Runet in Crisis Situations

This chapter suggests that the Russian Internet has two different, though interrelated, faces. The first face is that of Runet in everyday life. The second is that of Runet in crisis situations. To explore the “crisis face” of Runet this chapter addresses a variety of crisis situations including terror attacks, natural disasters, political protests and international conflicts. Despite the diversity of these situations, an examination of the role of Runet in crisis situations allows us to identify a number of common features of the Russian Internet space and the crisis-related practices of Russian Internet users. To this end, this chapter examines the role that Runet plays in mediating the transition from everyday life to a crisis and the constitution of the user’s position in relation to crisis situations. The common features of the Russian Internet in crisis situations include: an increasing transparency around such situations and the shaping of a situational awareness, holding accountable the authorities in relation to how to they manage emergency responses and support for various forms of user participation in crisis-related activities and the crisis-related mobilisation of user resources. In addition, this chapter demonstrates how crisis situations can be considered as both moments of accelerated innovation and as moments for the accelerated development of new forms of control. The role of Runet in crisis situations is explored in the context of the structure of power relations between state and citizens and the specific role of crisis situations in Russian history and Russian political culture.