Russian web brigades

The web brigades (Russian: Веб-бригады ) are alleged astroturfing groups linked to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. They are purported to be teams of commentators that participate in political blogs and Internet forums to promote disinformation and prevent free discussions of undesirable subjects. Allegations of the existence of web brigades were made in the article "The Virtual Eye of the Big Brother" by French journalist Anna Polyanskaya in April, 2003, in US online media Vestnik Online.

An article "Conspiracy theory" by Alexander Yusupovskiy on 25 April 2003, published in Russian online media Russian Journal, edited by Russian politologist Gleb Pavlovsky, criticized Polyanskaya's theory of web brigades as an attempt at creating myths by people claiming to be Russian liberal thinkers in a response to the massive "sobering up" of the Russian people. A point was made that the observed behaviour of forum participants may be explained without a theory of FSB-affiliated brigades.

It was mentioned in the 2007 sociological research of large groups in Russian society by the RIO-Center, the belief in the existence of web-brigades is widespread in RuNet. Authors say "it's difficult to say whether hypothesis of existence of web-brigades corresponds to reality", but acknowledge that users professing views and methods ascribed to members of web-brigades may be found at all opposition forums of RuNet.

In January 2012 leaked information showed numerous references to an army of paid commenters that reportedly operated by pro-Kremlin youth organization Nashi in 2011. In 2013 Freedom House report said Russia (China and Bahrain) are at the forefront of paid, pro-government commenters and similiar practices in the world.

The expression "red web-brigades" (Красные веб-бригады) used by Anna Polyanskaya as a title to her article is a pun with "Red Brigades".

Early concept

The term "Web brigades" describing the alleged phenomenon in RuNet, gained recognition in 2003 by a French journalist Anna Polyanskaya (a former assistant to assassinated Russian politician Galina Starovoitova), French journalist Andrey Krivov and United States programmer and political activist Ivan Lomako. They claimed there exist organized and professional "brigades", composed of ideologically and methodologically identical personalities, who were working in popular liberal and pro-democracy Internet forums and Internet newspapers of RuNet.

The activity of Internet teams appeared in 1999 and were organized by the Russian state security service, according to Polyanskaya. According to authors, about 70% of audience of Russian Internet were people of generally liberal views prior to 1998–1999, however sudden surge (about 60–80%) of "antidemocratic" posts suddenly occurred at many Russian forums in 2000.

Criticism

Alexander Yusupovskiy, head of the analytical department of the Federation Council of Russia (Russian Parliament upper house) published in 2003 an article "Conspiracy theory" in Russian Journal with criticism of theory of web brigades.

Yusupovskiy's points included:

• He thought that officers of GRU or FSB have more topical problems than "comparing virtual penises" with liberals and emigrants.
• Commenting on the change of attitude of virtual masses in 1998–1999 authors evade any mention of the 1998 Russian financial collapse which "crowned liberal decade", preferring to blame "mysterious bad guys or Big Brother" for that change.
• Authors exclude from their interpretation of events all different hypotheses, such as internet activity of a group of some "skinheads", nazbols or simply unliberal students; or hackers able to get IP addresses of their opponents.
• Authors treat independence of public opinion in spirit of irreconcilable antagonism with positive image of Russia.

Team "G"

An article based upon the original Polyanskaya, Krivov, Lomko's article on web brigades and authored by the Independent Customers' Association was published in May 2008 at Expertiza.Ru website, the term web brigades replaced with the term Team "G".

Sergey Golubitsky, journalist of Russian IT-related magazine Computerra commented on the story in July 2008:

To tell the truth, I experienced the sense of paranoidal disturbance after getting informed of the results of Name of Russia vote and the report of the Independent Customers' Association. That feeling is familiar to everybody who upon having thumbed through the "Popular Medical Handbook" immediately unveils that one has the majority of uncurable diseases, symptomes of which precisely match your physical condition. So, judging by the "mainstream propaganda" points and the list of "major enemies", your old columnist must unambiguously be in service of FSB and join the well-matched ranks of the Team "G". But he doesn't – what's the trouble! And likewise, there are no members of the Team "G" among the vast majority of my friends – writers, artists, producers, journalists, medics (the very intelligentsia that we, as defined by the ICA, have to hate mortally – that is, to hate ourselves...), while they fully share my worldview. The more, the worse is it. The "mainsteam propaganda" is abundant of the great amount of saddening discrepancies with my believes: so, feeling sincere nostalgia for the USSR and deep distaste (hatred is too strong a feeling for me) to human rights defenders, Yeltsin and the abovementioned list of "major enemies" at the level of names and last names, I'm absolutely indifferent to "independent journalists" (because I'm the one myself), as well as to all tribal definitions of the list – Chechens, Jews, Americans. What the complete nonsense?! Why on earth would I hate all Europeans?! Or to the contrary – love employers or line-crossers of KGB?! Or – love Putin with the modern Rossiyansky authorities?

Does the Team "G" prowl expanses of the RuNet? Quite probably. Moreover it's likely to prowl, why wouldn't it? But in exactly the same manner there's the Team "E" from the opposite camp, represented by the anonymous Independent Customers' Association that prowls, honestly fulfilling its agenda and entering released funds. But how are these "teams" related to real life?! Absolutely no way. Both of them are here at work while we, the ordinary inhabitants of the RuNet, live here.

Nashi involvement

In January 2012 a group that presented itself as the Russian wing of the Anonymous published a massive collection of what they claimed to be e-mails of former and present leaders of the pro-Kremlin youth organization Nashi (including a number of government officials). Journalists who investigated the leaked information discovered numerous references to an army of paid commenters that reportedly operated in the fall of 2011. According to the e-mails, members of the "brigades" were paid 85 rubles (about 3 US dollars) or more per comment, depending on whether the comment received replies; some were presented with iPads. A number of high-profile bloggers were also mentioned as being paid for promoting Nashi's and government activities. The Federal Youth Agency whose head (and the former leader of Nashi) Vasily Yakemenko was the highest-ranking individual targeted by the leaks refused to comment on authenticity of the e-mails.

Korchevnaya's claims

Tatyana Korchevnaya, a former candidate to the Deputy of the State Duma from the Other Russia list, a former United Civil Front coordinator of the Primorsky Krai, participant of protest demonstrations, an author of the top tenth political blog of 2008 claimed in February 2009 in her blog that she was a member of an organization of Russia's "discontented", aimed to run a mass Internet campaign to discredit the authorities.

The project was allegedly coordinated by a Moscow-based manager, whose name Tatyana did not reveal. The goal of the participants was massive Internet campaigning, disputing those who were contented with their living in Russia, advertising Garry Kasparov and Dissenters Marches, and talking about atrocities of the "bloody regime". The participants used multiple nicknames to combat their opponents.

Korchevnaya considered such scheme abnormal: "I believe that if someone is afraid to say what they think out loud from their own names then they are not a free person – it's as if they're playing for both teams." She explained her confession with getting tired of the lie of those who she sincerelly trusted before. The other reason was a concern for herself:

With every passing day I become ever more saddened by the things they told me. I began to experience hitherto unfamiliar feelings, which I only later figured out as like being a "sacrificial lamb on the altar of democracy".

According to an anonymous source Tatyana referenced to, after she left the project it was "launched on a larger scale than was planned at the start", with participants "planning to ditch their real life jobs and embark on this project full time, especially now that they are going to get paid for it".

There has been no evidence presented of Korchevnaya's claims.

Other Events

In 2013 Russian reporters have infiltrated a covert organization that hired young people as "Internet operators" near St. Petersburg and discovered that the employees are being paid to write pro-Kremlin postings and comments on the Internet, smearing opposition leader Alexei Navalny and U.S. politics and culture.

"Each commenter was to write no less than 100 comments a day, while people in the other room were to write four postings a day, which then went to the other employees whose job was to post them on social networks as widely as possible."

Some Russian opposition journalists point out that such practices creates a chilling effect on the few independent media outlets that remain in the country.

See also

• State-sponsored internet sockpuppetry
• Astroturfing
• Sockpuppet (Internet)
• Cyberwarfare in Russia
• 50 Cent Party
• Internet Water Army
• Operation Earnest Voice
• Internet activism
• Internet police