In a profile of Ksenia Sobchak, a model, digital personality, reality TV star, a journalist and very vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times notes:
An estimated 66 million Russians use the Web every day — the largest such national population on the European continent and one of the fastest-growing in the world. Russians have adopted the Web not only as a public sphere for debate but also as a refuge of last resort, a citizens’ court to vent anger at and post evidence of official malfeasance. Videos depicting supposed police abuse, state theft and even car accidents go viral in minutes.
