An online war has been raging in Moscow for several months between a far-right movement and ‘progressive’ Russian companies. The movement, dubbed ‘the Masculine State’, is launching online attacks, filing lawsuits and threatening to destroy businesses over social media posts featuring LGBTI, feminist and black models.
A number of companies have succumbed to the attacks, but one sushi chain is standing up to the attacks.
The movement has become increasingly active this summer. Not only sushi chains, but also ecological supermarkets, feminists, critical bloggers, comedians, journalists and media companies have fallen victim to the group in recent months.
Last week, the far-right group launched an aggressive campaign against Russian sushi chain Jobidojobi over an Instagram post featuring a black model posing with sushi. The founder of ‘the Masculine State’, Vladislav Pozdnjakov, mobilized his 100,000 followers on Telegram to attack the sushi chain with DDoS attacks, fake orders and bad reviews.
Jobidojobi offered thereafter publicly apologized “for hurting our audience with the photos” and deleted all photos featuring the black model.
‘on the attack’
A day later, the same Pozdnyakov called for a similar attack on the popular sushi chain Tanuki. With more than 61 restaurants in Moscow, branches abroad and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, the chain appeals to many young people. Tanuki fights against racism in Russia.
Pozdnyakov shared Tanuki’s Instagram posts on his Telegram channel with the caption: “On the attack!” The photos showed a male black model and a lunchbox with a rainbow print.
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