OPINION:
The closest thing to real news seen on Russia’s state-owned television in recent weeks came unexpectedly, when Marina Ovsyannikova, a TV producer, rushed onto the set of an evening news program, holding an anti-war sign that read: “No war. Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. They are lying to you here.”
Ms. Ovsyannikova, of course, was promptly arrested. Dissent in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s autocratic regime has never been tolerated, but since Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the crackdowns on speech and the press have escalated dramatically.
Mr. Putin recently signed a law that imposes up to 15 years in prison on anyone who disseminates “false information” about the war on Ukraine. The law goes as far as making it illegal to use the words “war” or “invasion” in relation to Putin’s war of aggression.
Russia has also shut down foreign news sites within the country, and blocked access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Mr. Putin’s regime has attempted to create a digital iron curtain, shutting off Russians’ access to real news about the war.
Through his actions, Mr. Putin is breathing new life into the old Soviet joke, “there’s no news in Pravda, and no truth in Izvestia,” (a play on words, as Pravda and Izvestia were both Soviet newspapers, and the word for “truth” is “pravda,” while “izvestia” means “news”). There is neither truth nor news in the Putin-controlled media.
Despite Mr. Putin’s efforts to shut off the flow of information, and the great personal risk of participating in political demonstrations, Russians have been taking to the streets to protest in large numbers. The human rights group OVD-Info reports that close to 15,000 demonstrators have been detained, in 151 cities across Russia.
These arrests and other repressive measures directed at free-thinkers are nothing new under Mr. Putin’s authoritarianism. Countless dissidents have found themselves kicked out of Russia, imprisoned or even poisoned over the years.
Most prominent today among the Kremlin foes is Alexei Navalny, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a penal colony for speaking out against Mr. Putin. Russian authorities announced this week that they are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for Mr. Navalny.
The lesson throughout Mr. Putin’s more than two decades in power is that opposing him or his agenda garners swift and severe punishments.
While repressions and extreme censorship can effectively mute critics, a free press can loosen a totalitarian’s grip on power. Mr. Putin understands that free speech and the free flow of information would pose a serious threat to his tenuous political power. Pictures and honest reporting within Russia on the horrors of this war would be devastating for him politically.
President Ronald Reagan recognized the power of information to hold rogue regimes in check. He once noted that the “promotion of censorship reflects a manifest fear of truth.” Mr. Putin’s censorship today displays that fear of truth Reagan mentioned.
Reagan prioritized projects that would cut through Soviet propaganda and censorship, including advancing messages through Radio Free Europe and regularly saying the names of Soviet political prisoners during diplomatic meetings and in the media. Reagan seized every opportunity to speak the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it made Soviet rulers.
Moreover, Reagan supported, both overtly and covertly, efforts to equip Soviet dissidents with the material necessary to spread the truth about the Soviet regime. Samizdat, the effort by dissidents to secretly copy and distribute pro-liberty and pro-democracy writings, was supported both by the U.S. government as well as private actors within the United States. American businessman Robert Krieble, for instance, spent much of his fortune supporting such dissident activity — famously working to ensure that computers, fax machines and even office copiers were smuggled into the Soviet Union for use by dissidents.
Three decades after technology hastened the fall of the Soviet Union, Mr. Putin, thankfully, faces new technological challenges in his attempts to quell free speech. One such challenge emerged recently in the form of a website that enables individuals across the globe to send text messages to random Russians, explaining what is happening in Ukraine. Polish programmers, who go by the name Squad303, acquired 20 million cellphone numbers, and are putting those numbers to good use, as individuals reach out directly to Russians to discuss the war on Ukraine.
Other technologies and apps, including Telegram, Signal and Viber, are enabling Russian journalists to continue to share stories and build audiences. Free translation apps have made international communications easier than ever. The task of pulling back Mr. Putin’s digital iron curtain is being effectively crowdsourced, a modern version of Samizdat in which bulky office equipment has been replaced by the cell phone!
As Russia accelerates its attacks on Ukraine’s cities and historic architecture, there is an urgent need for the West to shower Russia in the truth — with pictures, texts and real news of what is happening in Ukraine.
Mr. Putin badly underestimated the resolve and will of the Ukrainian people. He may have also overestimated his ability to recreate a Soviet-era iron grip on the flow of information.
• Shonda Werry, a writer in Washington, serves on the board of Ukraine Orphan Outreach. Andrew Langer is president of the Institute for Liberty.
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