The Russian government has demanded that Google censor a news story that accuses the nation of artificially reducing the reported number of deaths from COVID-19. The news data, however, comes from government-run institutions and official records.
The
nation's internet censor, the Roskomnadzor, is trying to remove a news item from the MBKh Media website for being considered disinformation. In fact the MBKh Media article was based on a piece published by the Financial Times, and that piece also is
under scrutiny by Roskomnadzor.
The news in question states that the Russian government is trying to reduce the actual COVID-19 death toll by attributing the deaths to other diseases. According to the report, the death toll should be at least 70%
higher, which means that the actual death toll would be close to 5,000. Moscow's Health Department confirmed that the reports are based on their data.
To block the news, the Roskomnadzor has turned to Google directly since MBKh Media has refused to
delete the report.
Maybe the Russian censors should consider that its reputation for censoring embarrassing but true information means that the act of censorship ends up reinforcing the credibility of what's being censored. Maybe then attempts to
censor say 5G theories may end up enforcing the conspiracy.
The video game designer Activision has announced that Sony's Russia branch is refusing to release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered on the PS Store.
While the publisher did not give an explicit reason for this decision, it
is more than likely because of the No Russian mission, which centered around a mass shooting perpetrated by Russian terrorists and the player. The content subsequently caused a massive debate, garnered widespread criticism, and originally led to a
disclaimer and an option to skip the mission being added.
According to a tweet by the official Call of Duty Russia account, Sony Interactive Entertainment Russia refused to sell the game on the PlayStation Store. However, Activision did reassure
players that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 s remastered campaign would still be available for Xbox One and PC in Russia.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is out now for PS4, with a PC and Xbox One version launching on April 30.
The Russian government has demanded that Google censor a news story that accuses the nation of artificially reducing the reported number of deaths from COVID-19. The news data, however, comes from government-run institutions and official records. 
