This chapter describes how digitalization has affected activism in Russia by tracing the evolution, particularity, and the most visible forms of online activism in the context of the increasingly authoritarian Russian state. It discusses online activism in relation to “connective action” and illustrates it with two examples of contentious political activism: the anti-corruption campaign led by Alexei Navalny and the struggle to protect online communication from state surveillance by the Telegram messenger service. In addition, the chapter presents examples of Russian activism, which do not directly challenge the Kremlin.

The occupation of Runet? The tightening state regulation of the Russian-language section of the Internet Language-revised version,