News delivered by the Voice of America is vitally important, but news is not advocacy. Advocacy marshals truth and fact to influence thinking and behavior. Advocacy in Russia to its people would describe Putin’s crimes, his corruption, and his mismanagement. Advocacy will persuade the Russian people they deserve peace, not war; they deserve grandchildren, not sons coming home in coffins; they deserve honest government, not kleptocracy; they deserve to live as well as Westerners, not as increasingly impoverished subjects of Putin. And advocacy will inspire the Russian people to fight for all that they deserve.
We can reach the Russian people directly using the multitude of popular social media sites and messaging services already there. More than 35 million Russians now use the encrypted app, Telegram. Younger Russians especially, are using the internet for news and information from outside of Russia, and this is the demographic we need to reach.
Putin’s censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, has blocked access to some sites such as Facebook, but Russians still reach those sites using Virtual Private Networks (VPSs). Sale of VPN services have soared in recent months.
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