OPINION: Navalny offered a glimpse of what Russia could become

Editor’s note: Emily Parker isNow I Know Who My Companions Are: Voices from the Internet Underground” She is a former policy advisor at the U.S. State Department and a writer and editor at the Wall Street Journal. The opinions expressed in this comment are her own.read more opinions On CNN.

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“We know how easily people can be killed in Russia,” Alexei Navalny said in an interview for a book he was writing more than a decade ago. “But in the end it’s a matter of choice. You can remain silent, you can emigrate, you can stay here and fight,” said a Russian democratic activist.

Mr. Navalny, the biggest opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent memory, paid a heavy price for his decision to fight. Russian prison authorities said Friday that he died in a prison north of the Arctic Circle. He passed away at the age of 47. At this time, the details of his death are not yet known. But we know that this is a tragic end for a brave dissident who had long understood that his life was at risk.

Navalny made headlines in 2020 when he was poisoned with the chemical nerve agent Novichok, and has been imprisoned since returning to Moscow from Germany in January 2021. He was sentenced to more than one sentence. 30 years in prison.

His death may seem to suggest that Russia’s rebels have no future. But that’s not necessarily true. Navalny offered a glimpse of what Russia will become. He achieved what was once thought impossible. Mr. Navalny has cleverly used the Internet to undermine the widespread apathy that has prevented people from challenging authority. People realized that they were not alone and that working collectively would get results.

I first spoke to Mr. Navalny in 2010, when I was living in Moscow and interviewing him for my book about internet activism, “Now I Know Who My Comrades Are.” was. At the time, he was a relatively unknown lawyer and shareholder activist who blogged about corruption.

Many Russians I spoke to at the time were dissatisfied with the political situation, but did not understand the meaning of street protests. When I saw the demonstrations in Moscow in July of that year, I understood why. Hundreds of protesters gathered to support Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. They were just asserting their right to assemble, and the police only took some of them away.

Mr. Navalny understands that many Russians have no appetite for street protests, which are dangerous and unlikely to change anything. He said people often demonstrated in the 1990s, but no improvements were seen. He said they were tired of “massive political activity.”

Navalny offered an alternative approach: online activism. “You have to offer people an easy way to fight,” he told me. Instead of going to dangerous street protests, Russians can fight corruption without leaving their homes.

My book focuses on a 2010 case in which U.S. prosecutors say the German automaker then known as Daimler, now known as Mercedes-Benz Group AG, bribed Russian officials. It describes in detail. Navalny called on his followers to cooperate with criminal investigations. He encouraged people to send petitions to the Ministry of the Interior and the Attorney General’s Office. He asked his followers to post messages on then-President Dmitry Medvedev’s website.

In March 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against Daimler and three subsidiaries for corruption in at least 22 countries, including Russia and China, and shortly after, the Russian and German subsidiaries agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines. tied. “We have learned a lot from past experiences,” Daimler Chairman of the Board said at the time.

Years later, Mr. Navalny’s campaign did not lead to a flood of convicts. But he still had energy. He said he knows of at least a thousand letters submitted. He challenged the public apathy that was undermining political activity.

Navalny’s crusade has only just begun. On his website RosPil, he urged the public to check public documents for signs of suspicious activity. This led to the invalidation of millions of dollars worth of government contracts.

Navalny’s campaign showed those opposed to the Kremlin that they were not fighting alone. Eventually, the fruits of this online activity spread to the streets. In late 2011 and early 2012, tens of thousands of Russians took part in anti-government protests. The protest was organized primarily on social media and became one of the largest demonstrations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The protests clearly surprised the Kremlin. Shortly thereafter, Russia began selectively restricting internet access. In 2014, President Putin passed a law banning protests. In 2022, Russia banned Facebook and Instagram and restricted access to Twitter.

But Navalny’s team did not give up. Instead, they took the fight to YouTube. In 2021, Russia released a video about an investigation into a secret palace allegedly built for Putin at a cost of more than $1 billion, but the Russian leader denied it belonged to him. This was his most popular video on YouTube in Russia in 2021. Currently, this video has nearly 130 million views for him and nearly 2 million comments for him.Mr. Navalny The team also used the video platform to express its opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Navalny’s fame and online activity likely served to protect him for some time.he had more than X, formerly known as Twitter, has 2 million followers And it was well known outside Russia. His death could spark an international backlash and mass protests in Russia, so perhaps his opponents calculated that the risks of killing him outweighed the benefits.

But the world is very different now. Hundreds of mourners were reportedly detained in Russia as people gathered to lay flowers and candles in memory of Navalny. As the Ukraine war has shown, the Kremlin does not seem particularly daunted by international criticism.

The internet facilitated Navalny’s rise, but it could not save his life. Still, it had a profound effect. Mr. Navalny has used the Internet to galvanize resistance that once seemed impossible in Putin’s Russia. Navalny is gone, but his successor is not. They recognized, at least for a time, the power of collective action. Although the current situation looks bleak, this story is not necessarily over. Her wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has pledged to continue her opposition campaign and announced it on her YouTube page, where her videos have already been viewed millions of times.

Navalny expressed it best himself in the 2022 documentary “Navalny.” “We cannot afford to give up,” the activist said. “If they decide to kill me, that means we are incredibly strong.”