23:57, 5 September 2023

"Baza": in Chechnya, state servants are forced to put "Likes" to their bosses

Keyboard, residents of CHechnya with Kadyrov's portrait. Collage by the "Caucasian Knot." Photo by Magomed Magomedov for the "Caucasian Knot", Yelena Sineok, Yuga.ru

Chechen ministries force their employees to put "Likes" and comments to ministries' publications. Some of state servants have left hundreds of "Likes" under official publications, the "Baza" project has reported.

In Chechnya, employees of budget-funded entities are forced to report on the number of "Likes" placed under their entities' and bosses' publications, several Chechen state servants have confessed, the "Baza" Telegram channel has informed.

Besides, state servants are forced to write comments to publications made by their state bodies. "There are even certain norms prescribing the number of words in one sentence. Sometimes they indicate which words can be used and which cannot," one of the officials is quoted as saying. There is also a control system – special employees are checking how actively employees react to official publications; in case of an employees' weak activeness, they are invited to talk to their bosses.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that Chechen authorities used to hold online flash mobs. Thus, in response to a petition demanding the resignation of Ramzan Kadyrov, his assistant launched a flash mob in social networks under the hashtag #YapekhotinetsKadyrova (I Am Kadyrov's Infantryman).

In July 2020, Chechen authorities initiated a flash mob in social networks in support of Kadyrov, who had fallen under new US sanctions. Residents of Chechnya then suggested that officials did not care about the lack of persuasiveness of such actions; they were only trying to curry favour with Kadyrov.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 5, 2023 at 07:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot