ABSTRACT
The chapter examines recent changes in media policy and regulation in Russia, with an emphasis on policy-making processes and outcomes. Using a multiple streams approach to public policy agenda setting, the author studies the introduction of the so-called ‘Iarovaia law’ (2016) on the basis of mass media discourses. The set of amendments to two laws proposed by the Deputy of the Russian State Duma Irina Iarovaia and her colleagues included measures that aim to counteract terrorism, and obliged online service providers and mobile operators to store data and make it accessible to authorised government bodies at their request. This set of law amendments has far-reaching implications for, e.g., surveillance prerogatives, privacy and anonymity. Earlier studies have shown elements of unpredictability in the formulation of regulations and the predominance of a state-driven logic in the law-making process in Russia. By examining the construction of media policy as it is presented in public discourse, as well as determining the main actors and their roles, the chapter aims to increase our understanding of how media regulation affects communication rights in contemporary Russia.
