EDITORIAL - Silencing independent media

One development that may have gone under the radar of most of us was the revoking of the license of Russia’s only independent newspaper earlier this month.

After legal proceedings initiated by the Roskomnadzor, Russia’s government agency acting as the watchdog of the media, a Russian court has revoked the license of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, one of the newspapers that published stories critical of the Putin administration as well as its war on Ukraine.

"The newspaper was killed today. They stole 30 years of life from its employees. Deprived readers of the right to receive information," Novaya Gazeta said after the decision was released. It added that its "free spirit" will continue to exist.

The Roskomnadzor has initiated similar moves against the website of the Novaya Gazeta as well as a magazine it tried to launch last July after the publication was suspended last March after the invasion of Ukraine.

Revoking of the license of the actual published material can be justified for a number of reasons, but the insistence of the Roskomnadzor in pursuing the other editions of the independent newspaper shows it is desperate to silence the news outlet in whatever form.

In all likelihood this development is another move to control the narrative of current developments in Russia, particularly the war in Ukraine.

The war isn’t going Russia’s way right now, what with Ukrainian forces taking more and more ground formerly occupied by the invaders. Russia has a vested interest in not just portraying the war as a just cause to its own citizens but also one that they are actually winning.

To do so it must eliminate news sources that question the Kremlin’s moves.

It has another reason to want to dictate the story. Russia may have enemies closer to home. The death of the daughter of a key Putin ally last month --while conveniently blamed on Ukraine-- may have been committed by someone from the inside.

An independent and free press is essential for people to get a grasp of the whole situation. The truth cannot just be everything a government tells its people. Even if it was just one solitary voice offering a dissenting voice among a sea of assenters, the Novaya Gazeta represented the free press. And now it has been silenced.

Revoking the biggest independent Russian newspaper and its others outlets and forms only shows how faster Russia is sliding back into an autocracy, if it isn’t one yet. With the war still going on and the country facing numerous economic sanctions, this move will soon reveal its repercussions in the future.