Television is still named by most Russians (65%) as the main source of information, according to a poll conducted in March by the Levada Centre. However, the figure for March is not entirely typical as in recent years, the importance of television as an information source has been declining: in 2019-2020, an average of 71% of those surveyed (across four Levada Centre measurements) used it as a source of information, and in 2021, this was an average of 64%. In the first three months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the figure jumped to 69% - people stuck to the TV — but then returned to pre-war values, and in the last 12 months (April 2023-March 2024, 12 measurements) it fell to 60%.
TV's main competitors are social networks and Telegram. In 2021, social networks were mentioned by an average of 40% of those surveyed as a source of information, and Telegram by 6%. Immediately after the ban on Facebook and Instagram, mentions of social networks dipped, but quickly returned to pre-war levels (40%); over the last 12 months, a downward trend has re-emerged, and the average figure was 37%. Meanwhile, Telegram grew from 6% to 19-20% during the first year of the war; over the last 12 months, the average share of mentions of Telegram as an information source reached 23%.
It is easy to see that the combined share of mentions of social networks and Telegram equalled the share of mentions of TV. Respondents could mention more than one source of information (on average, they mentioned about two), so adding up the shares does not give us an exact figure (some respondents could mention both Telegram and social networks at the same time, while those who mentioned TV as a source could add Telegram or social networks to it). However, looking at the entire pool of references to information sources, the combined share of references to social networks and Telegram is equal to the share of TV (each accounts for an average of 26% of references over the past 12 months). Additionally, YouTube, which is listed as a source of information by 12–14% of those surveyed, has a share of about 5% in the overall pool of mentions. In such a case, the combined share of social media and platforms, including YouTube, reaches 30% of mentions and surpasses television.
As before, the popularity of TV is concentrated among older age groups: 85% of those over 55 and just under 45% of those under 40 mentioned it as a source of information. Meanwhile, the main news media for younger age groups are social networks, Telegram, and YouTube. Among Zoomers (ages 18–24), these social media are mentioned as sources of information by 57%, 43%, and 23% respectively; among Millennials (ages 25–39), the figures are 51%, 36%, and 19%. The share of television among the mentioned sources of information amounts to 20-23% in the younger age groups.
Technologically, the Internet has practically defeated TV. Responding in March to the question 'How often do you watch news on TV / read news on the Internet / watch video blogs?' 56% said that every or almost every day they watch TV, and 60% said that every or almost every day they read the news on the Internet. Moreover, TV and Internet audiences differ not only in age, but also in political attitudes. Among those who believe that the country is going in the right direction, 64% watch news on TV, while among those who believe it is on the wrong path, the figure is 33%. At the same time, both groups watch news on the Internet in almost equal measure. Interestingly, 25% of those surveyed watch video bloggers every day or almost every day. However, it should be noted that for the most part, this content is not political. Yet among those who think the country is on the wrong track, 37% watch video blog content.
At the same time TV is the leader in answers to the question 'What sources of information do you trust most of all?'. In the latest round of the poll 50% of those surveyed said that they trust TV, but on average for the past 12 months the level of trust was 45%. At the same time, 18% trust social networks and 15% trust Telegram (average over 12 months). The preference for television is provided by older age groups (among the 55+ cohort, 66% trust television), whereas younger age groups are more sceptical and express lower levels of trust towards all sources.
Clearly, in the past two years the 'battle for minds' has shifted from between TV and social media to occurring within social media. Television is increasingly becoming a niche provider of information and propaganda for older ages and is designed to maintain its influence in their indoctrination. Ideological expansion is directed towards the Internet.
For example, although social networks have generally maintained their position as one of the main sources of information, sociologists note that there has been a redistribution of their audience over the two years of the war. The more 'popular' and Kremlin-controlled site VKontakte has increased its audience by 13 million, according to Mediascope, while the more oppositional Facebook lost more than 20 million Russian users (as a result of the ban in Russia, although this data may be inaccurate due to the use of VPNs). At the same time, Facebook's opposition-minded 'population' has largely been absorbed by Telegram, whose audience grew, according to Mediascope, by 35 million (from 50 to 85 million users), almost catching up with VKontakte (at 90 million).
However, Telegram's 'population' has also changed in quality. In the pre-war period and at the beginning of the war, its audience was clearly distinguished in opinion polls by its more oppositional views, and although this effect has certainly persisted, today it appears less pronounced. The most radical differences in political orientation, however, are found among those who cite YouTube as one of their main sources of information. Although they represent a relatively small share, Levada Centre data show a steady increase: from November 2023 to March 2024, it increased from 11% to 14%, and among Zoomers and Millennials it reached 20%.
YouTube is becoming an important factor in the oppositional shift in sentiment among these groups, and the Russian authorities are moving systematically to ban it, which now seems to be only a matter of time, according to a recent report by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Meanwhile, as the Kremlin attempts to create an alternative to YouTube to avoid causing serious discontent among the non-politicized audience, Meduza reports that VK bought a controlling stake in Medium Quality Production, one of Russia's major entertainment production companies. Later, some popular Russian comedians also 'moved' to VK Video, which has been called the 'YouTube killer'. It is also believed that the Kremlin's plans will be aided by the degradation of the Google Global Cache (GGC) infrastructure located in Russia, which optimises traffic when using YouTube. Before the full-scale invasion, there were about 700 GGC servers in the country, but by the end of 2023, there were only about 450, which generally affects the upload speed of YouTube videos.
Nevertheless, although the Internet and social media in Russia are by no means 'opposition territory' and are subject to mass censorship, pumping of pro-government content and astroturfing attacks (→ Grigory Asmolov: Propaganda in the online environment), they remain an ideological and informational 'sieve', the holes of which the Kremlin has not yet managed to plug completely. Therefore, the continuing drift of the audience from television to social networks is a significant factor in Russia's social dynamics.