November 08, 2023

No More Music


No More Music
Cover of the "Sisters" podcast about the war in Ukraine, removed from Russian streaming. t.me/privetinoagent.

Russian streaming service Yandex.Music expunged 4,333 songs, videos, podcast episodes, and album covers during the first nine months of 2023, at the behest of Roskomnadzor, the Russian government agency responsible for overseeing and regulating telecommunications within the country.

According to Russian news outlet RBK, the primary justifications for removing the content were the dissemination of "fake news" pertaining to the Russian war in Ukraine, content that discredited the Russian armed forces, materials that described or promoted non-traditional sexual relationships, information about methods of self-harm or suicide, the publication of materials categorized as extremist, or content that expressed explicit disrespect for the state, the constitution, official state symbols of Russia, its president, as well as any content promoting drug use, pornography, and even "justifications of pedophilia."

Among the purged content were Ukrainian songs, such as the folk song "Chervona Kalina," as well as songs like "Ya yidu v ZSU" ("I'm enrolling in the Armed Forces of Ukraine") by MC Chipollino. Russian artists who voiced opposition to the war in Ukraine also had their songs deleted, including "Eto proydet" ("This Will Pass") by the punk band Pornofilmy, which was dedicated to the Moscow protests of 2019.

A substantial amount of content, including podcasts, was removed. Yandex.Music recently blocked access to the podcast "Privet, ti inoagent" ("Hello, you are a foreign agent") produced by journalists Sonya Groysman and Olga Churakova. This action was taken after the release of the new season of  "Sestry" ("Sisters"), which explores the lives of Russian families with members fighting in Ukraine. Additionally, Yandex.Music eliminated "Kholod" publication's podcast about the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Meduza podcast "Deadline," which discusses Russian media in wartime conditions, as well as various other independent media podcasts. In October 2022, Yandex.Music also restricted access to the Meduza podcasts "Signal" and "Chto Sluchilos" ("What Happened").

It was previously reported that Yandex.Music would implement content censorship through the utilization of artificial intelligence and manual review processes. Furthermore, Russian authorities were planning to employ artificial intelligence for content censorship on the Russian-language internet, commonly known as RuNet.

You Might Also Like

Not My Cab of Tea
  • October 19, 2023

Not My Cab of Tea

The Netherlands is investigating whether Yandex's ride-sharing app is sharing data with Russia's FSB.
A Video Song-Apology
  • August 16, 2023

A Video Song-Apology

Three waterpark employees in Crimea were fined and forced to sing "Vladimir Putin is Great" after dancing to a Ukrainian song.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Moscow and Muscovites

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. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955