Russian officials are citing authoritarian censorship laws passed by European governments as a justification for passing similar laws restricting free speech in Russia.

From The Moscow Times:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial set of bills that make it a crime to “disrespect” the state and spread “fake news” online, Russian media reported on Monday.

[…]The legislation will establish punishments for spreading information that “exhibits blatant disrespect for the society, government, official government symbols, constitution or governmental bodies of Russia.”

Online news outlets and users that spread “fake news” will face fines of up to 1.5 million rubles ($22,900) for repeat offenses.

[…]More than 100 journalists and public figures, including human rights activist Zoya Svetova and popular writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya, signed a petition opposing the laws, which they labeled “direct censorship.”

The Kremlin, however, denied the legislation amounts to censorship.



A professor now claims president Trump may stage a false flag to stay in power, but Alex points out how he exposed president Obama’s agenda and the MSM called him crazy for it.

“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,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.