Yandex is propagating false information, restricting Russian people’s access to independent media sources and forming public opinion based on propaganda. The European Union should recognize Yandex’s leading role in propaganda, censorship and restricting freedom of speech and add Yandex’s European legal entity, Yandex NV, based in the Netherlands, to the sanction list.

Yandex, the biggest and most prominent IT company in Russia, plays the leading role in Russian state propaganda and censorship. The Yandex.ru home page plays a significant role in forming the media agenda across the country: it displays news headlines at the center of the page. According to Yandex’s own 2021 data, its monthly audience was 65 million people, exceeding the audience of the notoriously propagandistic Russian state-owned TV channels. 

Yandex has always claimed its Yandex News aggregation service is neutral and simply reflects the media agenda in an unbiased way, favoring top headlines algorithmically. 

This is a lie, and it is an open secret both inside the company and among independent observers, journalists, and media analysts. Yandex has been strictly following the laws restricting freedom of speech in Russia by excluding independent outlets such as Meduza, BBC News, Echo Moskvy, TV Rain, and many others (all of which are officially banned by the Russian information regulator Roskomnadzor). By amplifying the headlines and snippets of state-owned or state-sponsored outlets, the site creates a false media background and does not make any attempt to disclose their state affiliation. 

The European Union should impose sanctions against Yandex NV to put more pressure on the biggest media player in Russia to change its approach to news aggregation and media strategy.