This is how Putin centers control of the news with the Yandex-Vk operation
In Russia, the technology giant Yandex (also known as Russian Google) has sold the media assets to Vk, a company linked to the Kremlin. This is the latest move by the Russian government to control information in the country
Yandex, the Russian Google, sells the news feed and homepage to the Kremlin-controlled company VK.
The Russian government tightened its grip on the internet on Tuesday, as a state-controlled company with close ties to President Vladimir Putin agreed to buy the news feed and home page of the country's most popular website, Reuters comments.
Yandex said it was selling its news aggregator, Zen content platform and yandex.ru home page to VK to focus on other business areas, such as food delivery and home transportation. In return, Yandex will acquire the food delivery company Delivery Club from VK. Asset values were not disclosed.
The Russian government has increased the pressure on big technology this year, particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A campaign that critics define as an attempt by the Russian authorities to exert tighter control over the Internet, something they believe threatens individual and corporate freedom. It blocked access to some foreign platforms, including Meta's Facebook and Instagram.
All the details.
THE OPERATION
Russia's Yandex has agreed to sell its news aggregation platform and Zen infotainment service, as well as the main page where both services are located, to VK. In return, it will acquire 100% of the Delivery Club food delivery service.
Hence Yandex.ru, its news feed and Zen, will be renamed dzen.ru, Yandex said, with VK taking over development and control over "content, look and feel."
“Yandex's board and management concluded that the interests of the company's stakeholders… are best served by pursuing strategic exit from its media businesses and shifting focus to other technologies and services,” Yandex said in a note.
WHAT IS VK
VK, controlled by Gazprom, is one of Russia's largest social media companies and has been one of Yandex's strongest competitors until now. VK operates the largest Russian social network, VKontakte.
“Much like Facebook, it works exactly like Zuckerberg's social network, with message boards and friends to add, talk to and exchange messages or emoticons with. Founded in 2006 by Pavel Durov (also founder of Telegram) together with Nikolai Durov, Vyacheslav Mirilashvili and Lev Binzumovich Leviev, it is now part of the Mail.ru group. According to the data published by the company, in the last quarter of 2021 76% of Russians use it ”writes the Corriere .
VK CEO Vladimir Kirienko is the son of Sergei Kirienko, Vladimir Putin's first deputy chief of staff.
HOW DOES YANDEX GO
Yandex dominates the Russian online search market with a share of around 62%, according to its analysis tool Yandex Radar. Google accounts for around 36%, with VK's mail.ru less than 1%.
However, like many Russian companies, it has had turbulent months. The Russian tech giant is not among the Russian companies sanctioned by the West due to the Russian offensive in Ukraine but has risked default. In March, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange suspended its trading.
In addition, it has also come under pressure from the Kremlin
"Yandex in recent years has complied with Moscow's demands, under threat of fines, for which stories from publications can be featured on its news aggregator, attracting criticism from advocates of free speech," Reuters recalls.
Moscow has not blocked access to most of the foreign-language media, which remain freely available in Russia and on Yandex, but research results restrict access to all sites banned by communications regulator Roskomnadzor, many of which are independent media in Russian.
COMPLAINT FROM FORMER HEAD OF YANDEX NEWS DIVISION
In addition, Yandex is also accused of supporting the Kremlin's propaganda on the war in Ukraine.
On March 1, former head of Yandex news division Lev Gershenzon posted a Facebook post pointing the finger at the company's complicit role.
“The fact that a significant part of the Russian population can believe that there is no war is the basis and the driving force of this war. Today Yandex is a key element in hiding information about the war. Every day and every hour of such “news” costs lives ”, reads the translation of the post provided by journalist Ilya Lozovsky, taken up by Euractiv .
THE POSITION OF THE RUSSIAN COMPANY
But Yandex denied being complicit in the censorship. "We are buying our freedom," a source close to Yandex told Euroactiv . “This matter had been such a burden. “This will allow us to do our business significantly depoliticized, practically completely depoliticized”.
But leaving the news feed in the hands of the state-controlled company VK, Yandex essentially hands over control of the news to the Kremlin.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-come-putin-accentra-il-controllo-delle-notizie-con-loperazione-yandex-vk/ on Fri, 26 Aug 2022 10:55:20 +0000.