Posted on 07/02/2014 8:46:27 AM PDT by wetphoenix
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian ban on swearing in films, plays and books came into force on Tuesday, a policy designed to appeal to conservatives but which Vladimir Putin's critics condemned as a further move against free speech.
Under the legislation that was passed in May, films containing "foul language" will be banned from wide release and books with swear words will have to be sold in sealed packages with obscenity warnings.
Theaters will not be allowed to stage productions containing obscenities according to the law, which imposes fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($1,500) for each infraction.
Russian media have reported that software known as the "swear-bot" will be used to police cursing on the Internet.
The law is meant to ensure "the protection and development of linguistic culture," according to a statement on the Kremlin's website. But critics say it is reminiscent of Soviet-era censorship and will suppress free expression.
Putin has struck a conservative tone in his latest presidential term, praising what he calls traditional values and holding up the Russian Orthodox Church as a moral authority.
Last month, newspaper Izvestiya said communications watchdog Roskomnadzor planned to use a search program to root out rude words in online articles and comments attached to them.
The 25 million-rouble ($729,500) system will search the 5,000 mass media sites that are already monitored manually, the report said.
The "swear-bot" faces a huge task as Russian is known for the breadth and inventiveness of its obscene vocabulary.
A dictionary of Russian swear words lists over 1,200 different phrases that use a single slang term for "penis".
Russian novelist Fyodr Dostoevsky wrote in the 19th century: "It's possible to express all thoughts, feelings and even deep analytical thoughts just by saying this one noun."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
wtf?
Isn’t communism beautiful ???
It use to take talent to be able to write a comedy or drama without these as a crutch.
I think about Casablanca, Citzen Kane, all of the old greats without any of these.
A nationwide swearword jar. Yeah, that’s gonna work.
Good for Russia. They appear to be trying to climb out of a cess pool. While America is wallowing around deeper and deeper.
At one time We had The Hays Code. But aren’t we so much better off now that we can gratuitously curse and swear at will?
The Putin apologists and/or Big Government lovers will be along shortly to explain why putting Government in charge of what one says or hears is actually a positive thing.
I agree. Language to a great degree determines the quality of a culture and civilization. Look what trash-talk has done to ours.
It is less restrictive in many ways than the speech codes in place in the USA.
I couldn’t agree more. The “FRee”Republic Putinistas who admire Putin’s theocratic and totalitarian overreach will be telling us that at least he supports God and country. It’s as if they’re unable to see that he couldn’t give two hoots about religion or freedom as long as he can be in charge.
A translation, please so long as it won’t get you banned or suspended.
CC
What you said....
Importantly, swearing is part of the “broken window theory” of social behavior. That is, if a building in a part of town has a broken window that is not promptly fixed, it creates the impression that the area is run down.
Swearing is the same way. It creates the impression that the people of an area are lower class. And when used in media, it “defines deviancy down”, and encourages repetition among its audience.
It will never hold for very long. I know I’m profiling, but most Russian or Ukrainian I’ve met tend to be one extreme or the other, either they are profoundly emotional and loquacious or they keep a tight lid on any overt expression, positive or negative. They are like a forced marriage of the Italians and the Swedes.
So back when I was a kid in the 1950s, the US was a communist nation?
Permitting vomit to drool off of every Internet, Television, and Movie, screen isn't a hallmark of a free nation, it's a hallmark of an immoral, degenerate, society sinking into the cesspool of hedonism due to a total lack of standards across the board.
Lenny Bruce in a smoky, dark, night club is one thing, but garbage for the sake of garbage is nothing but an extension of the pornography mindset into every other form of entertainment and discussion.
Obama and the sodomite EU sends money and arms to Christian killing Al Qaeda terrorists.
They also push this sort of thing on society -
Lenny Bruce was pretty tame by todays standards.
“Fifty years ago the Soviet army occupied Austria. We made a mistake in freeing Austria. We should have stayed.” - Vladimir Zhironovsky.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.