The Amina ExperimentThe most chilling aspect of Russia’s digital control system may be its targeted surveillance of migrants through another app called the Amina app. The Broader PatternRussia’s digital control system follows the Chinese model but adapts it for different circumstances. The government’s $660 million investment in upgrading its TSPU censorship system over the next five years signals long-term commitment to digital control. To understand the impetus behind Russia’s digital Panopticon, look at Nepal: Russian analysts could barely contain their glee as they watched Nepal’s deadly social media protests unfold. Russia isn’t building its surveillance state to prevent what happened in Nepal, they’re building it because they already lived through their own version.