1. Social Media Helps Spread Anti-Putin Protests

    By Matt Grossbart

    Earlier this year, social media was a key element in protests in Libya and Egypt, and now it’s helping spread protests in Russia.

    On Sunday, Russia held elections which resulted in many victories for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s unpopular United Russia party. This did not sit well with voters, who accused the party of stuffing ballot boxes and employing repeat voters. Citizens venting their frustrations on social media platforms managed to connect with other like-minded people, leading to the organization of protests being set up as events on Facebook or Russian social networking site VKontakte. Although protests against Putin are nothing new, they usually draw relatively small crowds. With the added benefit of organizing online, a recent protest had as many as 5,000 participants.

    Only about a third of Russia has access to the Internet, and most of those people are located in large cities like Moscow, so it remains to be seen if and how this online revolution could reach citizens of smaller towns and villages across the country. It also remains to be seen how protestors will organize when elections for President - a position Putin is vying for - are held in March.

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