Chechnya leads in cases of violence against journalists and bloggers in Russia

In 2020, out of 103 cases of violence against journalists registered by human rights defenders in Russia, 40 cases took place in Chechnya. The unfavourable situation with the freedom of the Internet has also developed in Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Adygea, and Kuban.

The "Network Freedoms" project of the human rights group "Agora" has prepared the report "Internet Freedom 2020: The Second Wave of Repression". The monitoring analyzed such parameters as criminal prosecution for publications on the Internet, administrative pressure, regulation by the authorities, Internet censorship, use of violence, civil lawsuits, cyber attacks, and pressure on the IT business. Cases of the use of violence or threats in connection with the expression of opinions on the Internet were registered in 21 Russian regions, including Dagestan and the Rostov Region. Authors of the study called Chechnya the "absolute record holder:" out of 103 incidents registered throughout the whole country, 40 occurred in Chechnya.

In addition to Chechnya, the most vulnerable group also includes Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar Territory, and Adygea.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 2, 2021 at 05:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.