State of Open Data in Russia during the War: Between Drone Attacks and Bureaucratic Turf Protection

Abstract

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian authorities have been regularly removing data from public access. According to our calculations, nearly 600 datasets have been removed from the "open data" sections of official websites of federal executive bodies in the past two-and-a-half years. This number does not include various registries; statistical reporting forms; and textual reports containing macroeconomic, financial, crime, and social benefits indicators that have also been deleted, sometimes retroactively for all previous years. Three main groups of data withdrawn from public access can be identified: 1) economic and financial data that may pose a potential sanctions threat; 2) war-related data used in journalistic investigations; and 3) potentially sensitive data on social and economic problems in the country. However, the rollback of openness initiatives has not yet led to outright data concealment. Despite military censorship, access to many data fields is preserved. The closure of data, however relentless, still has a gradual character. Openness infrastructure continues to operate due to the high inertia of the bureaucratic system and mid-level bureaucrats’ efforts to protect their turf.