September 22, 2021

What's Worse: Unsympathetic Aliens or Interfering AI?


What's Worse: Unsympathetic Aliens or Interfering AI?

“The App Store portal: who regulates it? Artificial intelligence, people from Mars?”

– Andrei Klimov, Russian representative of the executive authority of the Perm territory

In a bid to protect Russia’s sovereignty during this week’s State Duma elections, Senator Andrei Klimov questioned Apple representative Daria Yermolina about the App Store’s regulations. The Russian government summoned both Apple and Google to the Temporary Commission of the Federation Council for the protection of state sovereignty. The government claimed that Apple and Google’s refusal to remove the “Navalny” and “Smart Voting” applications from the App Store and the Google Play digital store amounted to interference in Russia’s elections. The “Smart Voting” application listed State Duma candidates likely to win against state-backed contenders.

Following the committee hearing, both Apple and Google removed the applications from their stores.

 

 

You Might Also Like

Aiming for RuNet
  • May 01, 2021

Aiming for RuNet

Russia’s crackdown on internet freedoms reached a fever pitch this spring as the government attempted to slow Twitter traffic in response to the microblogging platform’s alleged refusal to delete banned content.
A Can-ny Campaign Strategy
  • September 01, 2021

A Can-ny Campaign Strategy

“Lids are very relevant seasonal paraphernalia for many. Everyone accepted the gifts, even adherents of other political views.” – Local news from gorbatka.ru, on United Russia’s election campaign strategy.
Sports, Sleep, and the State Duma
  • February 04, 2021

Sports, Sleep, and the State Duma

This week's Odder News features Russian athletes making international news, low-tax sports gear, and more opportunity for restful shut-eye.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
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.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
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.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 

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