As tensions are alleged to be flaring between the Russian military and Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, a prominent mercenary leader, access to Google News in Russia has been stonewalled.
While little is known about what is actually happening in the region, with alarming claims being made from both sides, the blockade ensues amid allegations from Russian generals, who reportedly accuse Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner Group, of conspiring to orchestrate a coup against President Vladimir Putin.
While Google has not issued a statement so far, the consequences on the ground are evident. Internet freedom in Russia is taking a hit, as NetBlocks, an internet watch service, discerned that a multitude of internet service providers (ISPs) are curbing access to the platform.
NetBlocks’ analysis revealed that Rostelecom, U-LAN, and Telplus are among the at least five ISPs obstructing access to the news service. It has also been observed that the bandwidth allocated to Google News has been deliberately trimmed by several other ISPs.
This development is only a fragment of a bigger picture, where President Putin has been steadily amassing power through an intricate technological apparatus, as well as working on ways to block VPNs in the country.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian censorship body, plays an integral role in this machinery, which is committed to meticulously overseeing the internet within Russia.
Article cross-posted from Reclaim The Net.
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
