Click Fraud in the rf Masks Society’s Rejection of  Propaganda

The results of the russian media platform Dzen demonstrate a sharp imbalance between independent and state media. According to LiveInternet and Digital Budget, in the first nine months of 2025, the audience of private publications declined rapidly: RBC lost more than 38 %, Lenta.ru – 41%, and Argumenty i Fakty – 44%. At the same time, state-owned resources showed explosive growth, which seems unnatural. TASS increased its traffic by 727 %, having reached 224.9 million views, Komsomolskaya Pravda – by 227 %, and Russia Today – by 76%.

Such indicators create a picture of mass “click voting” for kremlin messages, but this is more about algorithmic manipulation and bot click fraud than the audience’s natural interest. In an environment where censorship is intensifying while Dzen promotes state sources, users find themselves in an information bubble, deprived of alternative opinions.

The figures underscore the scale of the propaganda campaign: instead of natural competition between content, an artificial advantage for state media is being created, allowing the kremlin to demonstrate its “successes” in the field of information control.