State Duma plans fines for viewing 'extremist' content online

Russia’s lower house of parliament has considered a bill that would introduce administrative penalties for searching and viewing materials deemed “extremist” online. After a third reading and approval by the Federation Council and the president, it could come into force on 1 September【176641391638406†L31-L40】. The amendments envisage fines of up to 5,000 rubles for reading banned content and up to 200,000 rubles for accessing it via a VPN【176641391638406†L45-L48】. The Justice Ministry’s list of extremist materials includes Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Meta’s social network Instagram, Russia’s banned “LGBT movement” and songs by the bands Pornofilmy and Oxxxymiron, as well as Navalny’s videos — more than 5,500 items in total【176641391638406†L64-L75】. Experts say courts often treat any criticism of the Interior Ministry, FSB, the military or Vladimir Putin as extremism【176641391638406†L42-L85】. Human rights lawyers warn that journalists, activists and volunteers could face prosecution because their search queries and browsing histories may be handed over to the authorities by providers, telecom operators and even cafés and hotels【176641391638406†L114-L119】. They acknowledge that the authorities lack the resources to monitor everyone, but the law creates new risks for activists and independent media【176641391638406†L121-L132】.