Imprisonment of up to 15 years? Amid Ukraine invasion, Russia intensifies crackdown on media

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to escalate, a number of cases show how Moscow has intensified its crackdown on media and dissenters in the country.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed into law harsh new legislation to nab those who are being charged with spreading "fake news" about the military.

Putin has already banned Facebook and Instagram after labelling them as "extremist" and media reports have suggested that, to silence dissent, the Russian authorities have blocked or shut down independent media in the country.

The Russian leader last week promised that he will purge Russia of the "scum and traitors" who are opposing the special "military operation" in Ukraine.

As per a report by Bloomberg published on Tuesday (March 22), Russian lawmakers have expanded legislation that punishes people with fines or imprisonment for publishing "fake news" about the military’s operations to cover all state agencies.

The move has been deemed as a major escalation of the crackdown on media coverage in Russia of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The report added that the State Duma lower house of parliament backed amendments criminalising the public dissemination of "knowingly false information about the activities of government bodies abroad in pursuing Russia's national interests".

A person charged with the offence can be slapped with a penalty ranging from fines of between 700,000 rubles ($6,800) and 5 million rubles to imprisonment of up to 15 years if the actions led to "grave consequences".

The Kremlin said on Wednesday (March 23) that it was vital to apply a new law.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the specific case of journalist Alexander Nevzorov, whom investigators late on Tuesday accused of deliberately spreading knowingly false information about the actions of theRussianmilitary in Ukraine.

Telegram gains popularity

Meanwhile, Telegram has overtaken WhatsApp to become Russia's most popular messaging tool, the mobile operator Megafon said on Monday (March 21).

WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms Inc is embroiled in a Russian court case, with prosecutors seeking to label it an "extremist organisation", and authorities have actively promoted Telegram as they have banned other foreign platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Russia's military operation in Ukraine has added fuel to a simmering dispute between foreign digital platforms and Moscow.

Megafon, one of Russia's four main telecoms operators, said its analysis of mobile internet traffic showed that Telegram's share had jumped to 63% in the first two weeks of March from 48% in the first two weeks of February.

WhatsApp's share dropped to 32% from 48%, Megafon said. The average Telegram user consumed 101 MB of data a day, compared to 26 MB for WhatsApp.

Founded by Russian Pavel Durov, Telegram has long been a popular news platform in Russia, with almost all major media, government entities and public figures operating content channels.

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(With inputs from agencies)