Russia To Ban Swearing On The Internet

from the bloody-hell dept

A year ago, we wrote about a Russian law that introduced a blacklist designed to block access to information on drugs, suicide and child pornography (all for the children, of course.) Strangely, that same law was then used to silence leading reporters who dared to criticize the government (bet nobody saw that coming....)

Well, Russian politicians are back to thinking of the children now, and want to make further amendments to the law, as this report on the English version of Pravda reveals: State Duma Deputy Yelena Mizulina intends to make further amendments to the Law "On the Protection of Children." The chairwoman of the Committee on Family, Women and Children put forward a suggestion to punish people for using dirty language in social networks.



According to politician, the pages full of posts and messages containing swear words, will have to be blocked within 24 hours, if harmful information is not deleted. This should apply to pages on social networks, websites, and various forums. Yes, you read that correctly: the new law would forbid the use of "dirty language" pretty much anywhere online. If the offending phrases aren't quickly removed, the relevant page will be added to the blacklist. The chairman of the Moscow Regional Bar Association, Sergei Smirnov, is all for it: "Obscene language offends both children and adults. A ban on its use is not an infringement of human rights. This is a direction towards a civilized lifestyle. If we do not use foul language in real life, then why do we use it on the Internet?" Right: so politicians want a ban on swearing online, because apparently no one in Russia ever swears offline.

That'll work.

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Filed Under: for the children, free speech, internet, russia, swearing