Yesterday, we announced the launch of our campaign demanding the release of Alexei Navalny. Our first goal is a truly massive nationwide rally across Russia, and we will announce the date once the number of participants reaches 500,000.
Today, there are already 200,000 participants.
One of the main features of our site is that when people sign up to participate, they place a pin on the map, where they can indicate not just their city, but also their street and building. That way, everyone can see they are not alone—like-minded people may be living in the very same courtyard. And exploring this map is incredibly fascinating.
So far, the breakdown of registrations by region looks like this:
We have not seen any real criticism of our idea—the lack of a fixed date will allow us to persuade as many people as possible to join and prepare thoroughly, while making it harder for the authorities to intimidate people and break up the rally. However, there is one problem many have pointed out: bots using temporary email addresses to register.
Temporary email addresses can indeed be used—we deliberately left that option available for those who do not want to reveal their real one. These people still receive a confirmation email showing that they are taking part in the campaign, but such a user will only be counted, and their pin will only appear on the map, after their behavior has been analyzed to determine whether it is a bot or a real person.
As of now, we have already removed 11,237 registrations that looked suspicious (about 8,000 of them were removed immediately without hesitation, another 2,200 were removed gradually, and another 1,000 did not pass our protections in the first place). It is quite possible that some of them were real users. So please check whether your pin is on the map.
The registration chart currently looks like this:
And this is important. What does that last data point of 3,630 registrations per hour tell us?
It tells us that the most active and engaged rally supporters have already signed up, and the number of registrations has dropped compared with the site's first hours online. This is an inevitable process: first, the core supporters register—the people who hardly need persuading—and after that, the pace slows down.
That is why the real work begins now. We need to bring in other participants—those who are afraid, uncertain, or simply still do not know about our campaign.
Right now, post the link free.navalny.сom on your social media. It is a simple step, but if each person who has already signed up convinces at least one more person to do the same, we will immediately pass the 400,000 mark.
You can download flyers from the website. Print them out and post them in your apartment building entrance. And do not be afraid—our map shows that people who share your views live very close by, and there are far more of us than it may seem.
This really does have to be a collective effort. But at the same time, there is nothing complicated about it: sometimes a single post or a single conversation is enough to persuade someone. And there are definitely people around you who will listen to you.
Our country must be free and happy.