Russia Schemes to Quell Protests

As Russian officials gear up for an unprecedented anti-Putin rally expected to turn out tens of thousands of people, authorities have ordered high-school students to take exams Saturday afternoon in an apparent bid to keep them from joining the protest. Meanwhile, males over the age of 17 were threatened with being drafted into the Army if they attended Saturday’s rally in Moscow. On Twitter, thousands of bots are drowning out conversations on protest-related hashtags with pro-Kremlin messages. More than 50,000 people have pledged on opposition websites to attend Moscow’s rally.