In Russia, the propagandistic church television channel Spas has released the film The Network, in which the use of social media and the creation of “digital avatars” are equated with magic and online extremism. In this way, the Russian Orthodox Church has actively joined the Kremlin’s information campaign aimed at justifying internet restrictions and blockages.

This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

According to the center, official representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are publicly urging Russians to welcome internet blockages because “technological civilization fades before eternity.”

Analysts emphasize that the Russian Orthodox Church is effectively carrying out the Kremlin’s objectives by manipulating people’s religious sentiments in order to reduce public discontent caused by internet restrictions.

“The transformation of religious dogmas into arguments used to justify censorship in the online sphere vividly demonstrates how deeply the Russian Orthodox Church has been integrated into the state hierarchy of Putin’s regime,” the Center for Countering Disinformation stated.

According to Regina Elsner, Doctor of Theology and researcher of Eastern Christianity and ecumenism at the University of Münster, the Russian Orthodox Church has become one of the key institutions of mobilization and propaganda.

Read more about the lack of religious freedom and the instrumentalization of religion in totalitarian regimes, and about those who left Russia to escape repression, in LF’s feature article.