So, about @meduzaproject, the best and just about the last “major” independent news media in Russian. The government has just designated it a “foreign agent” as a way to starve it of advertising and/or fine it to death. But there’s an upside!

Normally I feel wary giving to Rus media because foreign $$ can be used against them. Well, now it can’t — it’s a “foreign agent!” So I signed up for a monthly donation on par with what one pays for NYT. US media peeps, PLEASE CONSIDER DOING THE SAME. https://support.meduza.io/ ">https://support.meduza.io/">...

Meduza does not exist in a vacuum — its part of *our* news ecosystem. It does stories with @buzzfeed, gets cited (and, ahem, undercredited) in @nytimes, and its legwork is a part of almost every good Western news piece about Russia. It also has its own Eng presence: @meduza_en

Forgot to tell you the most ludicrous thing. Meduza& #39;s posts in any media are now forced to include a ritual recitation of "the following is created by an entity functioning as a foreign agent" etc. I wouldn& #39;t even be able to fit the whole thing into a tweet - WHICH IS THE POINT

If they slip up and don& #39;t include this caveat in even ONE post, this gives the regulating body, Roskomnadzor, all the basis it needs to block the site entirely. A sterling example of modern Russia& #39;s ways: de facto censorship with an almost sadistic sliver of plausible deniability