Posted on 02/24/2021 6:35:37 AM PST by edwinland
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has signed a set of bills into law criminalizing the spread of what his government considers to be "fake news," with hefty fines and jail time for those who share information that "exhibits blatant disrespect for the society, government, official government symbols, constitution or governmental bodies of Russia," Russian media outlets reported Monday.
According to the Moscow Times, "Online news outlets and users that spread 'fake news' will face fines of up to 1.5 million rubles ($22,900) for repeat offenses. Insulting state symbols and the authorities, including Putin, will carry a fine of up to 300,000 rubles and 15 days in jail for repeat offenses." The fines vary depending on whether the lawbreaker is an individual citizen, an official or a legal entity.
[ SEE: Daily Life Inside Vladimir Putin's Russia, in Photos ] Prosecutors may report perceived violations and complaints to the state, which has been empowered to block websites if they fail to remove information that the Russian government decides is factually inaccurate or insulting. Some analysts say this could include social media platforms such as Facebook and search engines like Google, making it much more difficult for citizens or groups to protest against the Russian government.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists the new law is needed to rein in false news reports and abusive online comments.
"One can hardly agree with the opinion that this is some sort of censorship," he said. "What's more, this sphere of fake news, insulting and so on, is regulated fairly harshly in many countries of the world including Europe. It is therefore of course necessary to do it in our country, too."
But critics – including Chairman of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov, human rights activist Zoya Svetova, and more than 100 journalists and public figures –called the new law a significant step toward censorship.
[ MORE: The 25 Best Countries in the World ] "The mentioned laws establish the right of an official at his own discretion, without investigation and trial, by his sole decision, under far-fetched and arbitrary pretexts, to prohibit the dissemination of any information and permanently block any media resources on the Internet," they wrote in a translation of the petition. "We are talking about state repression against the entire journalistic and literary community."
While Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation promises "Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of ideas and speech," guarantees "the freedom of mass communication" and bans censorship and "the propaganda of social, racial, national, religious or linguistic supremacy," The Moscow Times reports that laws introduced over the last five years have required messaging services to open up to Russian security services and search engines to delete some search results.
"Russia has not historically had major constraints on Internet freedom. The Internet has thus been one realm in which full diversity of opinion and free expression, even on the most sensitive political topics, were generally permitted," Matthew Rojansky, director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, told The Washington Post. "The prosecutor general now has essentially unconstrained authority to determine that any speech is unacceptable under the new law."
“Our country’s public discourse is plagued by misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies,” write Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney. They quote a claim that right-wing media is “much more susceptible,” and demand to know why Amazon’s Fire TV carries certain conservative programs.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-censorship-is-accelerating-11614036293
Damn.....the Russkies beat us to it.
It was easy for them, once they shipped us all their Communists.
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