The cyber gulag: How Russia tracks, censors and controls its citizens

Yekaterina Maksimova enters a Moscow subway station in Moscow, Russia, on May 22, 2023. The journalist and activist has been detained five times in the past year, thanks to the system's pervasive security cameras with facial recognition. She says police would tell her the cameras ‘reacted’ to her – although they often seemed not to understand why, and would let her go after a few hours. — AP

TALLINN, Estonia: When Yekaterina Maksimova can’t afford to be late, the journalist and activist avoids taking the Moscow subway, even though it’s probably the most efficient route.

That’s because she’s been detained five times in the past year, thanks to the system’s pervasive security cameras with facial recognition. She says police would tell her the cameras “reacted” to her – although they often seemed not to understand why, and would let her go after a few hours.