Online Jokes Are No Laughing Matter in Russia

Expand A satirical mugshot depicting Daniil Markin. The nameplate indicates his page on the social media platform VKontake and Russia's Criminal Code Article 282.1 ("incitement of hatred against a religious group"). He faces up to five years in prison under this article.   © 2018 Personal Russian authorities have registered 762 “extremist crimes” so far this year, many of them consisting of social media posts. In some cases, the authorities make little effort to conceal that they are using the country’s broad and vague anti-extremism legislation to silence free expression. One case is that…

© Human Rights Watch - mardi 21 août 2018