Yesterday, a Swedish reporter marooned in Moscow gave the following report on the situation in the Russian capital. A lot of anti-war protesters have been arrested by the police, the protests broken up rather brutally. Also, there is censorship on the web. For instance, Estonian TV have been banned from the Russian airwaves. Everyone who doesn´t follow the line of the regime risks repressive sanctions.
Undoubtedly true. And disturbing. And scandalous. Of course!
There is just one little problem.
Are there *some other* nations in the world where protests have been violently suppressed by a brutal police force? Where alternative viewpoints are censored on the web? Where the government goes after you, if you "spread misinformation" on social media platforms? Indeed, where elected officials are banned from such platforms, and (who knows) maybe even elections are rigged?
Well, I don´t know. But I certainly heard, shall we say, rumours that such things are prone to happen in places like the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom...
I´ve even heard whispers about state of emergencies that lasted for two years, and government-approved stormtroopers and lumpen gangs roving the streets looking for people with the wrong kind of texts on their T-shirts.
Is it as bad as Putin´s Russia? Or as Kiev under Russian bombardment? Of course not. But at least now we know where "they" got the idea from!
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