In Russia, Rage Is Boiling Over

Mr. Zakharov is a Russian journalist and the author of “The Russian Cyberpunk.”

Over the past year, Russian authorities have been blocking popular messaging apps and coercing citizens to migrate to MAX, a new state-endorsed messenger platform. The messages there are presumed to be fully accessible to the F.S.B., the state security agency that succeeded the Soviet K.G.B. A recent joke from a comedy show on Channel One, Russian television’s largest outlet, went like this:

“Why are you writing to me in a private chat: ‘Hey everyone!’”? “Well, that’s how it works on MAX!”

That such a joke aired on Channel One — a significant stake of which belongs to Yury Kovalchuk, who also has strong ties to MAX and who is a friend of President Vladimir Putin’s — speaks to the animosity the people of........

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