In Russia, the authorities monitor millions of social media accounts every day because of criticism of the war against Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian authorities monitor 12.5 million accounts, including 6 million anti-war ones. In 2024, approximately 500 cases were opened over posts opposing the war.
The Russian authorities monitor 12.5 million social media accounts every day, with nearly half of them linked to criticism of the war against Ukraine and the Russian army. The Moscow Times reports this, citing data from Rosmolodezh and an investigation by The Insider, UNN writes.
Details
Denis Ashirov, deputy head of Rosmolodezh, said that the agency monitors about 6 million profiles that share anti-war messages. The Russian authorities classify such content as "destructive and illegal information."
Another 1.1 million accounts are monitored because of materials that officials associate with political violence and criticism of the authorities. Posts about drugs, Nazism, and other topics are monitored separately.
Russians are held accountable for posts opposing the war
The monitoring is carried out by the Center for the Study and Network Monitoring of the Youth Environment, established on the instructions of Vladimir Putin.
According to Rosmolodezh head Grigory Gurov, in 2024 alone, the center's work led to the opening of about 500 criminal cases and several hundred administrative cases.
Doxa journalists also found 48 court rulings from 2025 and the first half of 2026 in which the center's information was used to persecute citizens. In particular, a resident of Magnitogorsk was fined 30,000 rubles for comments criticizing the Russian army.
In addition, Russia plans to involve schoolchildren and students more actively in so-called cyber squads and media patrols, which will search for prohibited content on social networks and messengers.
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