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Russia is ratcheting up its internet censorship ahead of elections this weekend that are all but assured to give President Vladimir V. Putin another six years in power, further shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for political activism, independent information and free speech. The Russian authorities have intensified a crackdown against digital tools used to get around internet blocks, throttled access to WhatsApp and other communications apps in specific areas during protests, and expanded a program to cut off websites and online services, according to civil society groups, researchers and companies that have been affected. Russia, they said, is turning to techniques that go beyond its established practices of hacking and digital surveillance, taking a more systemic approach to change the way its domestic internet functions. In doing so, the country is using methods pioneered by China and Iran, forming an authoritarian model for regulating the internet that contrasts with the more open approach of the United States. Russia “has reached a new level of blocking in the last six months,” said Mikhail Klimarev, a Russian telecommunications expert and executive director of the Internet Protection Society, a civil society group.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Russia “, ”, Mikhail Klimarev Organizations: Internet Protection Society Locations: Russia, China, Iran, United States, Russian

The files also revealed a campaign to monitor closely the activities of ethnic minorities in China and online gambling companies. The files included records of apparent correspondence between employees as well as lists of targets and materials that showed off cyberattack tools. The documents came from I-Soon, a Shanghai company with offices in Chengdu. Three cybersecurity experts interviewed by The Times said the documents appeared to be authentic. Taken together, the leaked files offered a look inside the secretive world of China’s state-backed hackers for hire.

Organizations: The Times, Ministry of State Security, United Locations: Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, China, Shanghai, Chengdu

How the Russian Government Silences Wartime DissentJust days after invading Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a censorship law that made it illegal to “discredit” the army. The indignities of the crackdown, and the long arm of the Russia law, is being lost in the numbers. Nanna Heitmann for The New York TimesIn dry legalese, the court documents recount the Russian state’s case against these statements and protests. People’s “negative assessment” of the Russian military could adversely affect its performance, the court said, presenting a national security risk. And I very much don’t want this.”Sergei Platonov at district court in Moscow listening to his guilty verdict in November.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ”, — schoolteachers, —, That’s, Ukraine —, pollsters, Andrei Kolesnikov, Demyan, Aleksandr T, Olga V, ” Maksim L, Omsk Diana I, Denis V, Russia ”, “, Maksim P, Anna S, Maria V, people’s “, Russia’s, Zaynulla Gadzhiyev, Mr, Bespokoyev, Marina Tsurmast, scrawled, Nanna Heitmann, Tsurmast, Gadzhiyev, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Aleksandra Y, Skochilenko, Selimat, Vladimir A, Rustam I, ” Yelena L, Aleksandr K, Olga P, Dmitri D, Sergei V, Eve, Daria Ivanova, Ms, Ivanova, “ you’ll, Anton Redikultsev, Redikultsev, Jan, Marina, Sergei P, ” Yuldash, ” Dmitri S, Peskov, Putin’s, Sergei Platonov, Platonov, Russian Gestapo ”, Polina, Kolesnikov, Anna Sliva, Sliva Organizations: New York Times, Times, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, OVD, Penza Yuriy V, Russia, ”, Ukraine ” “, YouTube, Bucha, Ukraine, Police, The New York Times, Armed Forces, Russian Federation, VK, Russian Gestapo, The New York Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine, “, Omsk, Peace, Ukraine ” “ Ukraine, Bucha, Moscow, St, Petersburg, Iglino, ”, Novosibirsk, Siberia, Crimea, Ukrainian, Kalga, Russia’s, OVD, Coast, Primorye, Soviet

The drones began crashing on Ukraine’s front lines, with little explanation. For months, the aerial vehicles supplied by Quantum Systems, a German technology firm, had worked smoothly for Ukraine’s military, swooping through the air to spot enemy tanks and troops in the country’s war against Russia. Then late last year, the machines abruptly started falling from the sky as they returned from missions. “It was this mystery,” said Sven Kruck, a Quantum executive who received a stern letter from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense demanding a fix. “All we could do is get information from the operators, try to find out what wasn’t working, test and try again,” Mr. Kruck said.

Persons: ”, Sven Kruck, ” Mr, Kruck Organizations: Quantum Systems, Russia, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense Locations: German

As with children’s television, it is legal, and commonplace, to run ads, including for adult consumer products like cars or credit cards, on children’s videos. There is no evidence that Google and YouTube violated their 2019 agreement with the F.T.C. The Times shared some of Adalytics’ research with Google ahead of its publication. Google told The Times it was useful to run ads for adults on children’s videos because parents who were watching could become customers. When ads appear on children’s videos, the company said, they are based on webpage content, not targeted to user profiles.

Persons: Michael Aciman, Adalytics Organizations: YouTube, Times, Google, The Wall Street, COPPA

What’s the difference between Russia’s internet before and after the invasion of Ukraine? That was the finding of a report published on Wednesday by Citizen Lab, a group from the University of Toronto that studies online censorship in authoritarian countries. The new report was one of the first attempts to quantify the extent of Russian internet censorship since the war began in February 2022. Before the war, Russia’s government issued internet takedown orders to Vkontakte, known as VK, once every 50 days on average. The government also used keyword blocking to censor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer terms on the site, the report said.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, Lab, Vkontakte, VK Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Vkontakte

The expanding program — formally known as the System for Operative Investigative Activities, or SORM — was an imperfect means of surveillance. Russia’s telecom providers often incompletely installed and updated the technologies, meaning the system did not always work properly. At first, the technology was used against political rivals like supporters of Aleksei A. Navalny, the jailed opposition leader. Russian authorities turned to local tech companies that built the old surveillance systems and asked for more. The new technologies give Russia’s security services a granular view of the internet.

Persons: —, Aleksei A, Anton Cherepennikov, ”, Ksenia Ermoshina Organizations: Citadel, U.S . State Department, United, “, Citizen, University of Toronto, MFI Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russian, Russia

Neither could a fourth-grade teacher — or Judy Blume. It’s hard to fully grasp the enormous potential of ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence chatbot released last month. We asked some experts on children’s writing to take our variation on the Turing test, live on a call with us. They were a fourth-grade teacher; a professional writing tutor; a Stanford education professor; and Judy Blume, the beloved children’s author. None of them could tell every time whether a child or a bot wrote the essay.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

Starting in 2012, the year Mr. Putin retook the presidency, Roskomnadzor built a blacklist of websites that the companies were required to block. In 2021, authorities throttled access to the social media service to a crawl. It gathered information about government critics and identified shifting political opinions on social media. watch opponents and identify new threats to Mr. Putin, Mr. Voronin said. In the records, censors flagged ProUfu.ru for the critical Ukraine editorial written about Mr. Putin in February.

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