Russian web brigades: Difference between revisions

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	The '''Internet brigades''' ({{zh-ts\|t=網特\|s=网特；}}{{lang-ru\|Веб-бригады}})		The '''Internet brigades''' ({{zh-ts\|t=網特\|s=网特；}}{{lang-ru\|Веб-бригады}})
	<ref name="China">, by Jonathan Watts in Beijing, ], ], ]</ref><ref name="Polyanskaya"/> are state-sponsored ] teams that conduct ] ]. Such teams are allegedly affiliated with state propaganda departments, military, or ] forces. They are said to disseminate ] and prevent free discussions of undesirable subjects in ]s and ] by using ], ] and other ] methods against ]s or other Internet users.<ref name="Bagryansky"> {{ru icon}} by ] and Vladimur Bagryansky, publication of the Russian Center for Extreme Journalism </ref> ~~Since the existence of Internet brigades is often officially denied, such activities may be defined as "]", ] or ] operations (or "]" according to Soviet terminology).~~		<ref name="China">, by Jonathan Watts in Beijing, ], ], ]</ref><ref name="Polyanskaya"/> are state-sponsored ] teams that conduct ] ]. Such teams are allegedly affiliated with state propaganda departments, military, or ] forces. They are said to disseminate ] and prevent free discussions of undesirable subjects in ]s and ] by using ], ] and other ] methods against ]s or other Internet users.<ref name="Bagryansky"> {{ru icon}} by ] and Vladimur Bagryansky, publication of the Russian Center for Extreme Journalism </ref>

	Organized teams of information fighters, while not always ascribed the label "internet brigades", are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. Some of them are not sponsored by a state, but can push private ]s,<ref> , by Samvel Martirosyan, ], ],</ref> be involved in ],<ref>], ''The Guardian'' (UK) (posted by Norfolk Genetic Information Network), ], ],</ref> or participate in ]s.<ref>Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, '']'', ], ].</ref>

	==Internet police teams in mainland China==		==Internet police teams in mainland China==
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	*'''Destruction of inconvenient forums'''. For example, on the site of the ], all critics of ] and the FSB "were suddenly and without any explanation banned from all discussions, despite their having broken none of the site’s rules of conduct. All the postings of this group of readers, going back a year and a half, were erased by the site administrator."<ref name="Polyanskaya"/>		*'''Destruction of inconvenient forums'''. For example, on the site of the ], all critics of ] and the FSB "were suddenly and without any explanation banned from all discussions, despite their having broken none of the site’s rules of conduct. All the postings of this group of readers, going back a year and a half, were erased by the site administrator."<ref name="Polyanskaya"/>

	===Criticism ~~of the original publication~~===		===Criticism===
	~~A public discussion began in the ] of the "Russian Journal", just a few days after the first publication by Polyanskaya and others, and it lasted for two months.<ref name="Bagryansky"/>~~ Alexander Usupovski, head of the analytical department of the ] (Russian Parliament) claimed Web brigades are ] in his article published in "]".<ref name="Usup"> , by Alexander Usupovsky, Russian Journal, ], ]</ref>. Yusupovskiy's points included:		Alexander Usupovski, head of the analytical department of the ] (Russian Parliament) claimed Web brigades are ] in his article published in "]".<ref name="Usup"> , by Alexander Usupovsky, Russian Journal, ], ]</ref>

			Yusupovskiy's points included:
	*He supposed, that officeers of ] or ] have more topical problems, than "comparing virtual penises" with liberals and emigrants.		*He supposed, that officeers of ] or ] have more topical problems, than "comparing virtual penises" with liberals and emigrants.
	*There is difference between "dislike of hegemonic policy of the United States" at Russian forums and "quite friendly attitude towards usual Americans". Aggression and xenophobia doesn't characterize one side but is a common place of polemics, well met not only among Russian patriots, but also Russian emigrants from US, Israel, or other countries.		*There is difference between "dislike of hegemonic policy of the United States" at Russian forums and "quite friendly attitude towards usual Americans". Aggression and xenophobia doesn't characterize one side but is a common place of polemics, well met not only among Russian patriots, but also Russian emigrants from US, Israel, or other countries.
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	Usupovski concluded: "We would never make our country's military organizations and security services work under the rule of law and legal control, if won't learn to recognize rationally and objectively their necessity and usefulness for the country, state, society and citizens. Sweeping defamation and intentional discreditation with the help of "arguments", which are obviously false, only contribute to the extrusion of security services outside of rule of law and instigates them to chaos". <ref name="Usup"/>		Usupovski concluded: "We would never make our country's military organizations and security services work under the rule of law and legal control, if won't learn to recognize rationally and objectively their necessity and usefulness for the country, state, society and citizens. Sweeping defamation and intentional discreditation with the help of "arguments", which are obviously false, only contribute to the extrusion of security services outside of rule of law and instigates them to chaos". <ref name="Usup"/>

	===Support ~~of the original publication~~===		===Support===
			The findings of Polyanskaya and her colleagues have been supported by writer ] and psychologist Vladimir Bagryansky.<ref name="Bagryansky"/> They claimed that "the Internet brigade led by Alexander Usupovski is probably the most incompetent team of Russian state security services in RuNet".<ref name="Bagryansky"/>

			===Discussion===
	The findings of Polyanskaya and her colleagues have been supported by writer ] and psychologist Vladimir Bagryansky.<ref name="Bagryansky"/> They claimed that "the Internet brigade led by Alexander Usupovski is probably the most incompetent team of Russian state security services in RuNet".<ref name="Bagryansky"/> Other bloggers also claimed that Usupovsky and his supporters ''are'' the governmental "Internet brigade", "] agents", and "bastards of ]". A discussion was also conducted on the Internet forum of ]<ref name="Bagryansky"/> . Usupovsky supporters suggested to sue Ivan Lomko for libels and defamation and issued various threats.

	===Public perception===
	In 2007 sociological analysis of big groups in Russian society published at Russian resource , it's mentioned that idea of existence of web-brigades is a widespread point of view in RuNet. Authors say "it's difficult to say whether hypothesis of existence of web-brigades corresponds to reality", but claim that users professing views and methods that are ascribed to members of "web-brigades" may be found in vast amounts at various opposition forums. <ref>, by RIO-Center. (in Russian)</ref>		In 2007 sociological analysis of big groups in Russian society published at Russian resource , it's mentioned that idea of existence of web-brigades is a widespread point of view in RuNet. Authors say "it's difficult to say whether hypothesis of existence of web-brigades corresponds to reality", but claim that users professing views and methods that are ascribed to members of "web-brigades" may be found in vast amounts at various opposition forums. <ref>, by RIO-Center. (in Russian)</ref>

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	:"We are losing in the Internet in that respect. It is always easier to break down things than to do something positive. What you are doing are jokes and minor infractions. Not only methods, but also goals must be radical. We must blow this romantics out of them . It is important not only to protect the authorities - this is understood, but we need to attract young people who can work creatively in the Internet. This is an important communication place of young people. Make them interested in conversations with you."<ref name="Surkov"/>		:"We are losing in the Internet in that respect. It is always easier to break down things than to do something positive. What you are doing are jokes and minor infractions. Not only methods, but also goals must be radical. We must blow this romantics out of them . It is important not only to protect the authorities - this is understood, but we need to attract young people who can work creatively in the Internet. This is an important communication place of young people. Make them interested in conversations with you."<ref name="Surkov"/>

	===State security teams===
	Russian intelligence expert ] made the following points when asked by ] about "internet brigades" <ref> , a talk show by ] at the ], January 22, 2006; interview with ] and others </ref>:
	*Russian state security teams actively disrupt work of certain political ];
	*One of the teams, who called themselves ] officers, was actively involved in a disinformation campaign prior to ];
	*The teams are also involved in ] attacks, and they have probably attacked his own web site during the ];
	*Some of the "internet brigades" are coordinated by the Russian ], which is currently a part of the ] and has been formerly a part of 16th ] department;
	*There are also such teams from the ].

	===Internet brigades in Russian literature===
	The alleged ] activities on the Internet have been described in the short story "Anastasya" by Russian writer ], who was interested in the moral aspects of their work.<ref name="Svirsky>" ] </ref> He wrote: ''"It seems that offending, betraying, or even "murdering" people in the virtual space is easy. This is like killing an enemy in a video game: one does not see a disfigured body or the eyes of the person who is dying right in front of you. However, the human soul lives by its own basic laws that force it to pay the price for the virtual crime in his real life"''.<ref name="Bagryansky"/>

	==~~Brigades on the~~ Polish Internet==		==Polish Internet==
	~~Russian "Internet brigades" reportedly appeared in ] in 2005.~~ According to claims of anonymous "Polish experts on Russian affairs", reported by the Polish newspaper ], "at least a dozen active Russian agents work in Poland, also investigating the Polish Internet. They are claimed to scrutinize Polish websites (like those supporting ]ian opposition), and also to perform such actions, as—for instance—contributing to Internet forums on large portals (like Gazeta.pl, Onet.pl, WP.pl). Labeled as Polish Internet users, they incite anti-Semitic or anti-Ukrainian discussions or disavow articles published on the web."<ref name="Tygodnik"> , ], 13/2005</ref>		According to claims of anonymous "Polish experts on Russian affairs", reported by the Polish newspaper ], "at least a dozen active Russian agents work in Poland, also investigating the Polish Internet. They are claimed to scrutinize Polish websites (like those supporting ]ian opposition), and also to perform such actions, as—for instance—contributing to Internet forums on large portals (like Gazeta.pl, Onet.pl, WP.pl). Labeled as Polish Internet users, they incite anti-Semitic or anti-Ukrainian discussions or disavow articles published on the web."<ref name="Tygodnik"> , ], 13/2005</ref>

	==Internet brigades in Misplaced Pages?==
	A number of publications suggested that ] may have infiltrated Misplaced Pages to remove undesirable information <ref> , by Ludwig De Braeckeleer, ], 2007-07-26. </ref> The design and application of ] technology proved such suspicions to be well founded, although it remains unknown how many agents from around the world operate in Misplaced Pages <ref> by ]</ref>
	<ref>, by Rhys Blakely, ], August 16, 2007 </ref>
	<ref> By Jonathan Fildes, ] </ref>
	<ref>, by ]</ref>
	<ref> By Paul Willis</ref>

	==References==		==References==
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	==See also==		==See also==
			*]
	*]		*]
	*]		*]
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	*]		*]
	*Russophone LiveJournal community		*Russophone LiveJournal community

	See also discussions of existence of web-brigades in RuNet:
	* at Nnov.Ru (in Russian)
	* with ] at Moscow-based radio channel ]. (in Russian)		* with ] at Moscow-based radio channel ]. (in Russian)

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	]		]
	]		]
	]
	]		]
	]		]

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The Internet brigades (simplified Chinese: 网特；; traditional Chinese: 網特Template:Lang-ru) are state-sponsored information warfare teams that conduct psychological operations on-line. Such teams are allegedly affiliated with state propaganda departments, military, or secret police forces. They are said to disseminate disinformation and prevent free discussions of undesirable subjects in political blogs and Internet forums by using cyberstalking, cyber-bullying and other psychological warfare methods against political bloggers or other Internet users.

Internet police teams in mainland China

It has been reported that in 2005, departments of provincial and municipal governments in mainland China began creating teams of Internet commentators from propaganda and police departments and offering them classes in Marxism, propaganda techniques, and the Internet. They are reported to guide discussion on public bulletin boards away from politically sensitive topics by posting opinions anonymously or under false names. "They are actually hiring staff to curse online", said Liu Di, a Chinese student who was arrested for posting her comments in blogs.

Chinese Internet police also erase anti-Communist comments and posts pro-government messages. Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao has declared the party's intent to strengthen administration of the online environment and maintain the initiative in online opinion.

Internet brigades in Russia

First publication

This alleged phenomenon in RuNet was first described in 2003 by journalist Anna Polyanskaya (a former assistant to assassinated Russian politician Galina Starovoitova), historian Andrey Krivov and political activist Ivan Lomako. They claimed the appearance of organized and fairly professional "brigades", composed of ideologically and methodologically identical personalities, who were working in practically every popular liberal and pro-democracy Internet forums and Internet newspapers of RuNet. One of their observations was that prior to 1998–1999 about 70% of audience of Russian Internet were people of liberal views, composed of Russian middle class and people in emigration; but already in 2003 according to authors there were about 60-80% of "totalitarian" posts at Russian forums. They ascribe the phenomenon to activity of Internet teams which allegedly appeared in 1999 and were organized by FSB.

Behavior

According to Polyanskaya and her colleagues, the behavior of people from the Internet brigades has distinct features, some of which are the following:

Propaganda of the Communist ideology, and constant attempts to present in a positive light the entire history of Russia and the Soviet Union, minimizing the number of people who died in repressions.
Boundless loyalty to Vladimir Putin and his circle.
Respect and admiration for the KGB and FSB. The key word which "will force them to reveal their true colors is lustration"; the brigade will cry out in a choir about "bloody repressions by democratic murderers" and "witch hunts" after mentioning this word.
Hatred of dissidents and human rights organizations and activists, political prisoners and journalists, especially Anna Politkovskaya, Sergei Kovalev, Elena Bonner, Grigory Pasko, Victor Shenderovich, and Valeria Novodvorskaya.
Anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism.
Accusation of Russophobia against everyone who disagrees with them.
Tendency to accuse their opponents of being insane during arguments.
Round-the-clock presence on forums. At least one of the uniform members of the team can be found online at all times, always ready to repulse any “attack” by a liberal.

Tactics

Individual work on opponents. "As soon as an opposition-minded liberal arrives on a forum, expressing a position that makes them a clear "ideological enemy”, he is immediately cornered and subjected to “active measures” by the unified web-brigade. Without provocation, the opponent is piled on with abuse or vicious “arguments” of the sort that the average person cannot adequately react to. As a result, the liberal either answers sharply, causing a scandal and getting himself labeled a “boor” by the rest of the brigade, or else he starts to make arguments against the obvious absurdities, to which his opponents pay no attention, but simply ridicule him and put forth other similar arguments."
Accusations that opponents are working for “enemies”. The opponents are accused of taking money from Berezovskiy, the CIA, the MOSSAD, Saudi Arabia, the Zionists, or the Chechen rebels.
Making personally offensive comments, especially of sexual nature.
Remarkable ability to reveal personal information about their opponents and their quotes from old postings, sometimes more than a year old.
Teamwork. "They unwaveringly support each other in discussions, ask each other leading questions, put fine points on each other’s answers, and even pretend not to know each other. If an opponent starts to be hounded, this hounding invariably becomes a team effort, involving all of the three to twenty nicknames that invariably are present on any political forum 24 hours a day."
Appealing to the Administration. The members of teams often "write mass collective complaints about their opponents to the editors, site administrators, or the electronic “complaints book”, demanding that one or another posting or whole discussion thread they don’t like be removed, or calling for the banning of individuals they find problematic."
Destruction of inconvenient forums. For example, on the site of the Moscow News, all critics of Putin and the FSB "were suddenly and without any explanation banned from all discussions, despite their having broken none of the site’s rules of conduct. All the postings of this group of readers, going back a year and a half, were erased by the site administrator."

Criticism

Alexander Usupovski, head of the analytical department of the Federation Council of Russia (Russian Parliament) claimed Web brigades are conspiracy theory in his article published in "Russian Journal".

Yusupovskiy's points included:

He supposed, that officeers of GRU or FSB have more topical problems, than "comparing virtual penises" with liberals and emigrants.
There is difference between "dislike of hegemonic policy of the United States" at Russian forums and "quite friendly attitude towards usual Americans". Aggression and xenophobia doesn't characterize one side but is a common place of polemics, well met not only among Russian patriots, but also Russian emigrants from US, Israel, or other countries.
Change of attitude of virtual masses in 1998-1999 could be caused by Russian financial collapse which "crowned liberal decade", rather than "mysterious bad guys".
Authors exclude from their interpretation of events all other hypotheses, such as internet activity of a group of some "skinheads", nazbols or simply unliberal students; or hackers able to get IP addresses of their opponents.
According to Yusupovskiy, authors treat "independence of public opinion" in spirit of irreconcilable antagonism with "positive image of Russia".

Usupovski concluded: "We would never make our country's military organizations and security services work under the rule of law and legal control, if won't learn to recognize rationally and objectively their necessity and usefulness for the country, state, society and citizens. Sweeping defamation and intentional discreditation with the help of "arguments", which are obviously false, only contribute to the extrusion of security services outside of rule of law and instigates them to chaos".

Support

The findings of Polyanskaya and her colleagues have been supported by writer Grigory Svirsky and psychologist Vladimir Bagryansky. They claimed that "the Internet brigade led by Alexander Usupovski is probably the most incompetent team of Russian state security services in RuNet".

Discussion

In 2007 sociological analysis of big groups in Russian society published at Russian resource RIO-Center, it's mentioned that idea of existence of web-brigades is a widespread point of view in RuNet. Authors say "it's difficult to say whether hypothesis of existence of web-brigades corresponds to reality", but claim that users professing views and methods that are ascribed to members of "web-brigades" may be found in vast amounts at various opposition forums.

LiveJournal fighters

A member of National Bolshevik Party Roman Sadykhov reported about "LiveJournal fighters", directed and paid from the Kremlin and instructions given to them by Vladislav Surkov, a close aide of Vladimir Putin Surkov allegedly called Livejournal "a very important sector of work" and said that people's brains must be "nationalized" . He instructed "LiveJournal fighters" that

"We are losing in the Internet in that respect. It is always easier to break down things than to do something positive. What you are doing are jokes and minor infractions. Not only methods, but also goals must be radical. We must blow this romantics out of them . It is important not only to protect the authorities - this is understood, but we need to attract young people who can work creatively in the Internet. This is an important communication place of young people. Make them interested in conversations with you."

Polish Internet

According to claims of anonymous "Polish experts on Russian affairs", reported by the Polish newspaper Tygodnik Powszechny, "at least a dozen active Russian agents work in Poland, also investigating the Polish Internet. They are claimed to scrutinize Polish websites (like those supporting Belarusian opposition), and also to perform such actions, as—for instance—contributing to Internet forums on large portals (like Gazeta.pl, Onet.pl, WP.pl). Labeled as Polish Internet users, they incite anti-Semitic or anti-Ukrainian discussions or disavow articles published on the web."

References

^ China's secret Internet police target critics with web of propaganda, by Jonathan Watts in Beijing, June 14, 2005, Guardian Unlimited
^ Commissars of the Internet. The FSB at the Computer by Anna Polyanskaya, Andrei Krivov, and Ivan Lomko, Vestnik online, April 30, 2003 (English translation)
^ Template:Ru icon Eye for an eye by Grigory Svirsky and Vladimur Bagryansky, publication of the Russian Center for Extreme Journalism
China's Hu vows to "purify" Internet, Reuters, January 24, 2007
Articles by Anna Polyanskaya, MAOF publishing group
Template:Ru icon "They are killing Galina Starovoitova for the second time", by Anna Polyanskaya
^ Conspiracy theory, by Alexander Usupovsky, Russian Journal, 25 April, 2003
Big groups in Russian society: analysis of prospects of organization of collective actions., by RIO-Center. (in Russian)
Template:Ru icon Interview with Roman Sadykhov, grani.ru, 3 April, 2007
^ Military wing of Kremlin (Russian), The New Times, 19 March, 2007
Operation "Disinformation" - The Russian Foreign Office vs "Tygodnik Powszechny", Tygodnik Powszechny, 13/2005