April 06, 2025

Log Your Blog, or Else


Log Your Blog, or Else
So, whatcha writing there? The Russian Life files

On April 4, the Deputy Head of Russia's State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Anton Gorelkin, announced on Telegram that a law outlining consequences for well-known social media users who don't register with the government is in the works.

In November 2024, a law was passed requiring anyone with a blog or social media presence of greater than 10,000 followers to register with Roskomnadzor, the agency that oversees internet use in Russia. Since then, 214,000 netizens have applied for registration, with 134,000 approved. 

The new law would impose a penalty on those who fail to register. What the punishment would be remains to be seen.

In addition, Gorelkin floated the idea of lowering the threshold below 10,000 followers. The law would impact not only users of large, international apps like TikTok, YouTube, X, Pinterest, and Facebook, but also Russian sites like Odnoklassniki, Telegram, and RuTube.

The move comes as the Russian state has cracked down on internet use as part of a wave of restrictions following the start of the war in Ukraine. This has included both blocking sites for Russian users (often sidestepped with a decent VPN) and strangling internet communities it deems harmful. The drive to force influencers to register is one way to further exert control and surveillance.

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Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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Little Golden Calf
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Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

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