Untitled - socium.ge

94 Elena Vartanovaappealed directly to those forming public opinion – journalists and partyactivists. The Internet served as a mediator between the political powers andintellectuals who, in turn, forwarded the information obtained through the Netto the bulk of the Russian population by means of traditional media, thusconstructing a two-step communication system between the political elite andthe mass audience. The apparent PR function of the Russian Internet wasensured by its non-open nature, which put the Net into the use only of wellpaid,well-educated Russians who, by a large degree, shaped the decisionmakingelite. Quotations from online sites made by the traditional mediaduring the election campaigns safeguarded the enormous popularity of theNet.The Internet, the nervous system of the network society, has become a newmeans of political surveillance over internal flows of news information.Certainly, in a broad philosophical sense, one should emphasize that thereexists a dialectics between surveillance and the potential to build autonomyand freedom. The network provides the possibility for both, and, in fact,particular national (or social, cultural, corporate, other) circumstances shapethe social and cultural outcomes of network interaction within a specific organizationor structure. Consequently, in Russia, by providing Russian opinionmakerswith “free” online information, the political elite has demonstrated ashift to a principle of administrative rationalization and the scientific managementof the public sphere of political information and communication. AsRobin and Webster (1999: 106) argue, “if social control is to be effective, thecontrol of information and communication channels is imperative.”The Russian state has made several attempts to put the Internet under itscontrol by setting up a legal framework for its telecommunications policy.Since 1996, it has produced a number of political documents regarding informationtechnology and online networks. The Concept of the State InformationPolicy (1998) for the first time introduced the building of the information societyas a strategic goal of national development. The Concept of Building theInformation Society in Russia (1999), adopted by the Ministry ofTelecommunications and Informatization, proposed a Russian model for thetransition to the information society. It pointed to the need to protect nationalidentity, especially in culture and the media, and promoted national “values”as the strong state presence in the area of information technology, the subordinationof the market to the state, and the slow liberalization of the Russiantelecommunications sector. Information security and measures for its protectionwere mentioned among other priorities.In 2001 the Russian government approved two federal programs: ElectronicRussia in the Years 2002–2010 and The Development of the Unified Informationand Educational Space in 2001–2005, aimed at the development of informationtechnology. The documents promoted a broader use of information technology