“Battlefield Telegram”: The Case of Securitization of Online Social Media Regulation in Russia

Abstract

In the most recent demi-decade, Russian authorities have extensively utilized derogatory and bigoted discourse, labeling all developments that they deem unnecessary to tolerate as threats to “national security.” In line with this logic, wide range of issues and social groups have been and continue to be presented as ones that are menacing Russia, its core values, and its citizens. Questions of how exactly do Russian authorities discursively construct and communicate certain issues as threats and what narratives they use to convey this message in the most persuasive manner to the public incentivized me to undertake this research. In an attempt to answer these questions, this Thesis scrutinizes one of the most resonant cases of last years, that being the blocking of the Telegram messenger. Using Securitization theory as theoretical framework and discourse analysis coupled with Vuori’s five strands of securitization as a methodological model, this Thesis attempts to demonstrate that Russian authorities justify their disproportionately restrictive actions in regard to Telegram through the extensive use of “terrorism” narrative, presenting the refusal of the platform’s administration to hand over the decrypting means to FSB, which would grant the latter the unfettered access to platform users’ metadata, as an act that undermines Russia’s national and societal security. This Thesis, therefore, concludes that Russian authorities use “terrorism” narrative because it does resonate in Russian public, which consequently cushions the public’s outrage with overly restrictive measures employed by authorities. The Thesis, at the same time, also highlights the presence of other narratives, including a counter-securitizing one that presents Russian authorities themselves as a source of insecurity, in relation to this issue. The study also denotes the non-linear discursive trajectory and dissent within the inner ranks of ruling elite. This Thesis demonstrates that Russian authorities’ contemporary discursive and operational modus vivendi is a phenomenon worth being studied, with both academic and practical benefits.