Russian Internet revolution fuels protest

View Photo Gallery —  Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of cities across Russia to demand an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule and complain about alleged election fraud.

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Moscow — Today’s young Russians connect with the world on their laptops instead of around the fabled kitchen table, where their parents sat in Soviet times, the only place they could speak openly and safely.

Their vastly different expectations have made these young Russians the vital force among the tens of thousands who have protested the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections. Informed and motivated by blogs and social networks so far unfettered by government limits, they have emerged with the potential to confront the authorities and demand change. The months and years ahead will reveal whether they will achieve this promise.

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(Courtesy of Marina Litvinovich) - Marina Litvinovich, an influential Russian blogger, was involved in politics during the democratic days of the 1990s, but as people grew disenchanted with politics, she moved to the web. Litvinovich, now 37, has used her blog to raise the consciousness of a young generation long considered apathetic.
  • (Courtesy of Marina Litvinovich) - Marina Litvinovich, an influential Russian blogger, was involved in politics during the democratic days of the 1990s, but as people grew disenchanted with politics, she moved to the web. Litvinovich, now 37, has used her blog to raise the consciousness of a young generation long considered apathetic.
  • (Kathy Lally/ The Washington Post ) - Olga Morgunova, 22, protested for the first time in her life on Dec. 5, then again Dec. 10, angry about reported violations in Russia's Dec. 4, 2011 parliamentary elections. \
  • (Kathy Lally/ The Washington Post ) - Vladimir Osechkin, 30, remains apolitical despite the furor over the elections. He had a successful business until he encountered the widespread corruption in Russia. When he resisted paying bribes, he found himself in jail. Now he's a human rights activist.

(Courtesy of Marina Litvinovich) - Marina Litvinovich, an influential Russian blogger, was involved in politics during the democratic days of the 1990s, but as people grew disenchanted with politics, she moved to the web. Litvinovich, now 37, has used her blog to raise the consciousness of a young generation long considered apathetic.

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Critics of Russia's government were making good use of the internet ahead of elections set for Sunday. Still, voters are expected to return a parliamentary majority for United Russia, the party of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. (Dec. 2)

Critics of Russia's government were making good use of the internet ahead of elections set for Sunday. Still, voters are expected to return a parliamentary majority for United Russia, the party of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. (Dec. 2)

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Much of this under-40 generation calls itself apolitical — the authorities have given politics a bad name, and no leaders have emerged who appeal to these young Russians. But their independence poses an obstacle to the Kremlin, which relies on its control of the flow of information, primarily through television, to keep its rule unchallenged.

The government appears unsure how to handle them, and officials have periodically hinted at curbing the Internet. But Thursday, as he tried to portray himself as conciliatory toward the young and their concerns, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said restrictions would be technologically difficult and politically wrong.

With the number of daily users tripling in the past four years, the Internet has been booming in Russia, particularly among the young, offering them greater and greater space for dissent. Three in four Russians ages 25 to 34 go online every day, twice as many as among those their parents’ age, according to the Public Opinion Foundation.

Twenty years after the Soviet flag was lowered at the Kremlin on Christmas Day 1991, this new generation knows more freedom than fear. These young Russians have made clear that their tolerance has a limit, and they are unafraid to call the government to account.

With more demonstrations planned for Dec. 24, the path ahead is far from clear. Putin remains far and away the front-runner in presidential elections scheduled for March; his United Russia party, declared the victor in the contested parliamentary elections, retains a majority — though much reduced — in the parliament.

But the sheer numbers of Russians who have turned out to protest in recent days have left even some organizers astonished.

In a Russia better known for cynicism and apathy, particularly since Putin first assumed his eight-year presidency in 2000, what emerges from conversations with some of these young Russians is a tone of confidence and strength.

Marina Litvinovich

Marina Litvinovich was as surprised as anyone when Russians turned out by the tens of thousands on Saturday to protest the Dec. 4 elections, even though she was among the influential bloggers who has dedicated herself to preparing her generation for that moment.

“Not a single person could have predicted what is happening now,” Litvinovich, 37, said. “My forecast was for 2013 or 2014, not before.”

Thin and intense, Litvinovich has made it her mission to document official wrongdoing and reveal it on her blog, thus depicting a very different Russia from the one seen on television, where Putin marches across the screens every night.

 
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