Russian authorities have launched yet another attack against the free internet throttling Telegram and WhatsApp. YouTube already lies vanquished. 

Some Russian opposition groups, in particular, the late Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), announced campaigns against Telegram’s blocking, while figuring out relations among themselves on the fly. Yekaterina Duntsova’s  Rassvet (“Dawn”) party has hurried to stake its claim on the issue.

All of their proposals for how to push back create the impression of taking action. However, they more closely resemble token activism rather than a systematic and well-thought-out policy. I’m not going to provide them with a ready-made plan. But I am going to suggest how they need to rethink the foundations of their approach.

As Kremlin Throttles Telegram, Russians Stand to Lose More Than Just Messaging

The FBK’s plan can be summed up in the following points: personalize responsibility for the restrictions to create targets for personal sanctions, pile pressure on tech companies to resist censorship and file suits in Russian courts.

Sunrise proposes to fight the possible blocking of Telegram and internet censorship through activism. Specifically, the party suggests a symbolic protest (for example, using the “@” symbol on social media profiles). They are also organizing information campaigns and discussions in support of digital freedom, while advocating for using democracy and shaping public opinion to pressure the government to end repressive internet restrictions. 

All of these tools are familiar. They have also repeatedly failed to work.

Sanctions have long been turned to as a favorite instrument for Western governments. When in doubt, pass sanctions. Against whom? Well, against whoever feels appropriate. It gives the impression that by passing such measures, their authors make themselves look like they don’t really know what they want to achieve with them.  

Four years of war and the sanction regime have shown that without a system of lifting restrictions, personal sanctions don’t produce pressure, but an indefinite black mark. They are a blunt tool that doesn’t divide Russia’s elite, but cements their status. They have no clear exit and no incentive to defect.

How many people who profiteered from the regime have split from it? Very few. Even the former head of Yandex, Arkady Volozh, only begrudgingly mumbled out his anti-war statements. All those other tycoons, the Avens and the Fridmans, for whom prominent members of the FBK signed letters requesting sanctions relief, have simply........

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