Russia’s law 'On News Aggregators': Control the news feed, control the news?

Mariëlle Wijermars

doi:10.1177/1464884921990917

Russia’s law 'On News Aggregators': Control the news feed, control the news?

Mariëlle Wijermars^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

On 1 January 2017, a Russian federal law (№ 208-FZ) came into force that holds news aggregators liable for spreading fake news. Links to news items that originate from registered media outlets – a state-regulated category – are, however, exempt from liability. As a result, news aggregators, such as Yandex News, have revised their algorithms to avoid legal claims. This article argues that the law has created a mechanism of indirect media control enabling the Russian state to influence online news dissemination through existing media regulation structures. It conceptualises five ways in which this mechanism can affect media pluralism in Russia’s online news environment, given news aggregators’ function as algorithmic gatekeepers directing traffic to news websites. The article argues that the law ‘On news aggregators’ exemplifies the diversification of Russian regulation of online news from controlling content and targeting content producers towards governing the algorithmic infrastructures that shape news dissemination.

Original language	English
Article number	1464884921990917
Pages (from-to)	2938–2954
Number of pages	17
Journal	Journalism
Volume	22
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884921990917
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

News aggregators
Russia
algorithmic recommender systems
censorship
internet governance
media regulation
news aggregators
INTERNET
PERSUASION
PLATFORMS
SPEECH
MEDIA
CONSUMPTION

Access to Document

10.1177/1464884921990917Licence: CC BY-NC

1 Special issue

News-making in Russia
Yablokov, I. (Guest ed.), Schimpfössl, E. (Guest ed.) & Wijermars, M. (Guest ed.), Dec 2021, In: Journalism. 22, 12, p. 2895-2905 11 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Special issue › Academic › peer-review

Cite this

@article{aa1b1bc454eb4a9a8e0b0e3745cd1e8e,

title = "Russia{\textquoteright}s law 'On News Aggregators': Control the news feed, control the news?",

abstract = "On 1 January 2017, a Russian federal law (№ 208-FZ) came into force that holds news aggregators liable for spreading fake news. Links to news items that originate from registered media outlets – a state-regulated category – are, however, exempt from liability. As a result, news aggregators, such as Yandex News, have revised their algorithms to avoid legal claims. This article argues that the law has created a mechanism of indirect media control enabling the Russian state to influence online news dissemination through existing media regulation structures. It conceptualises five ways in which this mechanism can affect media pluralism in Russia{\textquoteright}s online news environment, given news aggregators{\textquoteright} function as algorithmic gatekeepers directing traffic to news websites. The article argues that the law {\textquoteleft}On news aggregators{\textquoteright} exemplifies the diversification of Russian regulation of online news from controlling content and targeting content producers towards governing the algorithmic infrastructures that shape news dissemination.",

keywords = "News aggregators, Russia, algorithmic recommender systems, censorship, internet governance, media regulation, news aggregators, INTERNET, PERSUASION, PLATFORMS, SPEECH, MEDIA, CONSUMPTION",

author = "Mari{\"e}lle Wijermars",

note = "Funding Information: Previous versions of this article were presented at the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Annual Conference, the University of Bremen and the University of Hamburg. I would like to thank the members of the audience of the respective events for their valuable feedback. I am also indebted to the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) where, during my time as an {\textquoteleft}Algorithmed Public Spheres{\textquoteright} visiting postdoctoral research fellow, this research was initiated. Finally, I am thankful to two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments and suggestions. The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (grant number 446-17-005). Funding Information: The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (grant number 446-17-005). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2021.",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1177/1464884921990917",

language = "English",

volume = "22",

pages = "2938–2954",

journal = "Journalism",

issn = "1464-8849",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "12",

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T1 - Russia’s law 'On News Aggregators'

T2 - Control the news feed, control the news?

AU - Wijermars, Mariëlle

N1 - Funding Information: Previous versions of this article were presented at the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Annual Conference, the University of Bremen and the University of Hamburg. I would like to thank the members of the audience of the respective events for their valuable feedback. I am also indebted to the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) where, during my time as an ‘Algorithmed Public Spheres’ visiting postdoctoral research fellow, this research was initiated. Finally, I am thankful to two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments and suggestions. The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (grant number 446-17-005). Funding Information: The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (grant number 446-17-005). Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - On 1 January 2017, a Russian federal law (№ 208-FZ) came into force that holds news aggregators liable for spreading fake news. Links to news items that originate from registered media outlets – a state-regulated category – are, however, exempt from liability. As a result, news aggregators, such as Yandex News, have revised their algorithms to avoid legal claims. This article argues that the law has created a mechanism of indirect media control enabling the Russian state to influence online news dissemination through existing media regulation structures. It conceptualises five ways in which this mechanism can affect media pluralism in Russia’s online news environment, given news aggregators’ function as algorithmic gatekeepers directing traffic to news websites. The article argues that the law ‘On news aggregators’ exemplifies the diversification of Russian regulation of online news from controlling content and targeting content producers towards governing the algorithmic infrastructures that shape news dissemination.

AB - On 1 January 2017, a Russian federal law (№ 208-FZ) came into force that holds news aggregators liable for spreading fake news. Links to news items that originate from registered media outlets – a state-regulated category – are, however, exempt from liability. As a result, news aggregators, such as Yandex News, have revised their algorithms to avoid legal claims. This article argues that the law has created a mechanism of indirect media control enabling the Russian state to influence online news dissemination through existing media regulation structures. It conceptualises five ways in which this mechanism can affect media pluralism in Russia’s online news environment, given news aggregators’ function as algorithmic gatekeepers directing traffic to news websites. The article argues that the law ‘On news aggregators’ exemplifies the diversification of Russian regulation of online news from controlling content and targeting content producers towards governing the algorithmic infrastructures that shape news dissemination.

KW - News aggregators

KW - Russia

KW - algorithmic recommender systems

KW - censorship

KW - internet governance

KW - media regulation

KW - news aggregators

KW - INTERNET

KW - PERSUASION

KW - PLATFORMS

KW - SPEECH

KW - MEDIA

KW - CONSUMPTION

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DO - 10.1177/1464884921990917

M3 - Article

SN - 1464-8849

VL - 22

SP - 2938

EP - 2954

JO - Journalism

JF - Journalism

IS - 12

M1 - 1464884921990917

ER -

Russia’s law 'On News Aggregators': Control the news feed, control the news?

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Research output

News-making in Russia

Cite this