Freedom Of The Press In The Russian Federation

Media freedom in Russia concerns both the ability of directors of mass-media outlets to carry out independent policies and the ability of journalists to access sources of information and to work without outside pressure. Media of Russia include television and radio channels, periodicals, and Internet media, which according to the laws of the Russian Federation may be either state or private property.

, Russia ranked 155 out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. In the 2017 Freedom House ''Freedom of the Press'' report Russia scored 83 (100 being the worst), mostly because of new laws introduced in 2014 that further extended the state control over mass media. Freedom House characterized the situation as even worse in Crimea where, after the 2014 annexation by Russia, both Russian jurisdiction and extrajudicial means are (according to Freedom House) routinely applied to limit freedom of expression.

Multiple international organizations criticize various aspects of the contemporary press-freedom situation in Russia.Human Rights Reports: Russia
; US BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR; 2013 The Russian government engages in internet censorship.

History

Legislative framework

The Russian constitution provides for freedom of speech and press; however, government application of law, bureaucratic regulation, and politically motivated criminal investigations have forced the press to exercise self-censorship constraining its coverage of certain controversial issues, resulting in infringements of these rights. According to Human Rights Watch, the Russian government exerts control over civil society through selective implementation of the law, restriction and censure.

Commissioner for Human Rights (ombudsman)

Russia's ombudsman, named officially the Commissioner for Human Rights, is appointed for a certain term by the Parliament. The ombudsman cannot be dismissed before the end of his term, and is not subordinate to any body of power, including the president or the government. Russia's 83 administrative regions have the right to elect a local ombudsman whose authority is limited to that region. Less than half have done so.

Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin reported in 2006, that suggesting that freedom of speech is non-existent in Russia would be an exaggeration, the constitutional right for speech freedom is basically observed, as well as that there was no institutionalised censorship. Apparently for these very reasons journalists and publishers seldom appeal to the commissioner protesting restrictions of their right of seeking, receiving, transferring, publishing or distributing information. Yet disguised restrictions exist to a considerable degree, they are often put through the economic pressure on mass media by the authorities and loyal business. The so-called "self-censorship" which induces journalists to refrain from disseminating information which, in their opinion, may not please the authorities, is also widespread. So in many places, the right to praise the authorities is ensured, while the opposite right is just formally declared.

In 2008 annual report, Vladimir Lukin wrote that it is important to have the comprehensive legal interpretation of the terms that may limit the freedom of thought and word.2008 Report of Russian Ombudsman
He spoke against the election legislation amendment that is "a practical prohibition" of contesting candidates' criticism, calling it obviously excessive. And Lukin was critical about the Law on combating extremist activities, noting that extremism and dissent must be strictly legally divided.

Attacks and threats against journalists

The dangers to journalists in Russia have been well known since the early 1990s but concern at the number of unsolved killings soared after Anna Politkovskaya's murder in Moscow on 7 October 2006. While international monitors spoke of several dozen deaths, some sources within Russia talked of over two hundred fatalities.

Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty in Russia is observed on 15 December every year.

Assaults on journalists

Since the early 1990s, a number of Russian reporters who have covered the situation in Chechnya, contentious stories on organized crime, state and administrative officials, and large businesses have been killed. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, since 1992, 50 journalists have been murdered for their professional activity in Russia (which made it the third deadliest country for journalists in the 1992–2006 period):CPJ calls on Putin to take responsibility for Politkovskaya murder probe
- Committee to Protect Journalists 30 journalists from 1993 to 2000, and 20 journalists since 2000.
, Committee to Protect Journalists, 16 February 2006.

According to Glasnost Defence Foundation, there were 9 cases of suspicious deaths of journalists in 2006, as well as 59 assaults on journalists, and 12 attacks on editorial offices. In 2005, the list of all cases included 7 deaths, 63 assaults, 12 attacks on editorial offices, 23 incidents of censorship, 42 criminal prosecutions, 11 illegal layoffs, 47 cases of detention by militsiya, 382 lawsuits, 233 cases of obstruction, 23 closings of editorial offices, 10 evictions, 28 confiscations of printed production, 23 cases of stopping broadcasting, 38 refusals to distribute or print production, 25 acts of intimidation, and 344 other violations of Russian journalist rights.

On 7 October 2006, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, known for her criticisms of Russia's actions in Chechnya and the pro-Russia Chechen government, was shot in the lobby of her apartment building. The death of Politkovskaya triggered an outcry of criticism of Russia in the Western media, with accusations that, at best, Vladimir Putin has failed to protect the country's new independent media.

International Press Institute reports selective use of regulations, politically motivated criminal investigations, journalist imprisonments, outlet shutdowns and aggressive harassments by security services. According to the organization, Russia remains the most dangerous European country for journalists, with four killed in 2009.

Amnesty International reported in 2009, that "Human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers who spoke openly about human rights abuses faced threats and intimidation. The police appeared to be reluctant to investigate such threats and a climate of impunity for attacks on civil society activists prevailed." Amnesty International reported also a "climate of growing intolerance towards independent views". According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Russia is a more dangerous place now than it was during the Cold War. Only Iraq and Algeria outrank it on the list of most life-threatening countries for the press."Anatomy of injustice"
, The Committee to Protect Journalists, September 2009.

In October 2016, a group of Chechen journalists published an anonymous, dramatic appeal in The Guardian describing the intimidation and physical attacks they are experiencing under the Ramzan Kadyrov government and complete control the officials are enforcing over the media organisations in the republic.

The Human Rights Committee of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is concerned about the contemporary situation in Russia.

at the alarming incidence of threats, violent assaults and murders of journalists and human rights defenders, which has created a climate of fear and a chilling effect on the media, including for those working in the North Caucasus, and regrets the lack of effective measures taken to protect the right to life and security of these persons.

* In August 2014 the Pskov-based publisher Lev Shlosberg, member of the opposition Yabloko party, suffered a serious attack that left him unconscious. He claims the attack was related to his paper's investigations on the deployment of Russian soldiers from Pskov to Ukraine.
* In August 2014 the investigative reporter Aleksandr Krutov was attacked and beaten in Saratov - the fourth time in his 20-years career in covering crime for a local publication.
* In September 2014 a TV crew reporting on fraud was attacked in Novosibirsk. Their equipment was destroyed and the videographer was injured.
* In December 2014 in Novosibirsk the editor in chief of ''taiga.info'' was beaten by two men in the website premises.
*On 30 July 2018, Orkhan Dzhemal (son of Geydar Dzhemal), was killed along with film director Alexander Rastorguev and cameraman Kirill Radchenko in the Central African Republic while filming a documentary about the activities of illegal Russian military formations in the CAR.
*In June 2019, investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was arrested and allegedly beaten in custody
*In 2021 Roman Dobrokhotov left Russia after he was placed on "wanted" list by FSB for alleged "illegal crossing of border"

Denial of entry and deportation of foreign journalists

* In February 2011, ''Guardian'' journalist Luke Harding, from Britain, was refused entry into Russia, contrary to OCSE regulations. He became the first foreign journalist to be expelled from Russia since the end of the Cold War. Some linked his expulsion with unflattering coverage of Russia, including speculation about Vladimir Putin's wealth. On 9 February Russia reversed the decision.
* In July 2014, the Ukrainian journalist Yevgeniy Agarkov (1+1 TV) was arrested in Voronezh while reporting on the trial of a Ukrainian prisoner of war. He was charged with missing proper accreditation, and was convicted, deported and banned for five years.
* In September 2014, a BBC team was attacked in Astrakhan while investigating the deaths of Russian soldiers in Ukraine - at the time still denied by the Kremlin. They had their equipment destroyed.
* In 2015, an Australian journalist, Helen Womack, who spent over 30 years reporting from Russia was denied accreditation after listing on a nationalist-operated "list of enemies of Russia" website and forced to leave the country.
* Also in 2015, following the documentary on Russian soldiers serving in the war in Donbas, Simon Ostrovsky was denied accreditation to Russia.
* Wacław Radziwinowicz was expelled in December 2015.
*Thomas Nilsen, Editor of The Barents Observer was declared persona non grata in November 2016
* Sarah Rainsford was banned from working in Russia in August 2021.

Censorship and self-censorship

Article 29(5) of the Constitution of Russia states, "The freedom of the mass media shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be prohibited." The World Report 2009 by Human Rights Watch said that the Russian government controlled over civil society through selective implementation of the law, media restrictions and harassment of activists and human rights defenders.

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe in 2005 interview to Russian radio Ekho Moskvy said there was pressure on media from authorities in Russia's regions, and situation with the central media caused concerns, as many central TV media looked to lose former independence; his conclusion was that the most important task in Russia was to protect the victories of the 1991 law on mass media, and to let journalists work fully independently; yet he said that with all the difficulties the Russian media were free as a whole, and that he was interviewed in a direct broadcast without censorship spoke also about press freedom.Interview of Alvaro Gil-Robles to M. Ganapolsky
, Echo of Moscow, 24 April 2005, .

According to 2005 research conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM), the number of Russians who approve of censorship on TV has grown in a year from 63% to 82%; sociologists believe that Russians are not voting in favour of press freedom suppression, but rather for expulsion of ethically doubtful material such as scenes of violence and sex (57% for restricting of violence and sex depiction on TV, 30% for ban of fraudulent businesses ads; and 24% for products for sex ads, and 'criminal way of life propaganda' films).

According to journalist Maxim Kononenko, "People invent censorship for themselves, and what happens on some TV channels, some newspapers, happens not because Putin dials them and says: 'No, this mustn't go.' But because their bosses are fools." However, political scientist Yevgenia Albats in interview with Eduard Steiner has disputed this assertion: "Today the directors of the television channels and the newspapers are invited every Thursday into the Kremlin office of the deputy head of administration, Vladislav Surkov to learn what news should be presented, and where. Journalists are bought with enormous salaries. In discussions they tell us then how horrible it is to work in the state television service."

Since 2012, at the beginning of Vladimir Putin's third presidential term, numerous laws have been passed to make censorship and extensive surveillance easier. Such measures also led to self-censorship. A 2016 report by PEN America shows that limitations of freedom of expression in today's Russia do not affect only journalism and media, but the overall cultural space. According to the report, a confluence of laws aimed at contrasting terrorism and religious hatred and protecting children have led to an environment in which is increasingly hard to distribute fiction, broadcast independent television and promote independent theatre and music productions. In addition, the selectivity and, at times, arbitrariness of Roskomnadzor, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, create uncertainty for writers, authors, publishers and other media producers, which often results in self-censorship as a way to avoid uncertain rules and arbitrary enforcement.

Also, according to the 2016 Freedom House's report on freedom of the press, government officials frequently use the country's politicized and corrupt court system to harass journalists and bloggers who expose abuses by authorities. In the Russian legal system the definition of extremism is broad and this make possible for officials to invoke it to silence critical voices. Enforcement of such legal provisions has encouraged self-censorship in the country.

"Fake news" law and law on "disrespect for authorities"

In 2019 Russia introduced new regulation commonly called "fake news law" which criminalizes publications containing "unreliable" information" as well as opinions that show "disrespect for society, government, state symbols, the constitution and government institutions". The law was criticized for vague wording allowing selective application e.g. against political opposition.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic the Novaya Gazeta was fined 60'000 rubles under new "fake news" law for disputing the officially declared mortality statistics.

Prosecution of "extremist" content

In summer 2012, the Russian State Duma considered Bill 89417-6 which would create a blacklist of Internet sites including child pornography, drug-related material, and extremist material; as well as making providers of telecom services liable for such breaches. The bill was criticized as not being aimed at combating the causes of illegal content and its distribution through the internet, nor contribute to the effectiveness of law enforcement and prosecution of criminals, and its subjective criteria could allow Russian authorities to mass block internet resources with legal content."Russian Lawmakers Set to Debate Internet Blacklist"
, RIA Novosti (Moscow), 6 July 2012.President's Council for the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights
, Statement by the Council in respect of the bill № 89417-6 "On Amendments to the Federal Law" On protection of children from information harmful to their health and development " - retrieved 9 July 2012 In December 2013, a law criminalizing "calls for separatism" was proposed. Under the law, violators face a fine of up to 306,700 rubles ($9,500) or jail terms of up to five years for making public calls for action aimed against the country's territorial integrity.

Since 2009, the practice of the law enforcement agencies (most notably FSB) was to abuse newly introduced anti- extremism laws to suppress freedom of speech, including corruption investigations. Publications and activities classified as "extremist" included protests against the court rulings in Bolotnaya Square case ("calling for illegal action") and criticism of overspending of local governor ("insult of the authorities") or publishing a poem in support of Ukraine ("inciting hatred") In 2015, the fines for "extremist" content were raised to a maximum of 1 million rubles ($16,069).
* In June 2015, Alexandr Byvshev, the poet whose works were banned as "extremist" earlier, was also listed on the official "list of terrorists and extremists" maintained by the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Росфинмониторинг, ''Rosfinmonitoring'') and a "spontaneous collective condemnation" campaign was started in his village described as Soviet-esque by independent media.
* Litvinenko's book " Blowing Up Russia" was also listed as an "extremist publication" and banned in 2015.
* In November 2015, just before the Holodomor anniversary in Ukraine, the articles of Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term genocide and used it to describe the Holodomor, were also added to the federal index of extremist materials in Russia.
* In February 2016, police in Saint Petersburg confiscated a whole print run of a book by a Polish war-time author Jan Nowak-Jeziorański because of an allegedly "extremist content" (mentions of Nazi-Soviet collaboration during World War II).
*In 2017 an image of Putin as a "gay clown" was added as item 4071, as a result of a 2016 legal case against social media activist A. V. Tsvetkov.
*In October 2018 customs office in Saint Petersburg stopped a single copy of book "Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia" by Masha Gessen, ordered on Amazon by a lawyer Sergey Golubok. DHL requested a declaration from Golubok that "the book does not contain extremist content" prior to delivery, and a few days later customs office requested him to certify that the book "does not spread specific views". The book is not sold in Russia, but it's also not in the "register of extremist materials".
*Coordinated measures are being applied to movies that do not follow Russia's currently preferred official version of historical events, including fiction and documentary movies. Preemptive "inspections" by the prosecutor general office, Ministry of Culture and other official organs, as well as not issuing a required "screening license" was used to harass directors and block widespread shows of films such as The Death of Stalin, "Holiday" (rus. Праздник) by Andrey Krassovski, Child 44, Ordered to forget.
*Doctors and medical personnel from Abinsk complaining about lack of overtime payments related to the COVID-19 crisis were accused of "carrying out extremist activities" by police.
*Russian cover of Dead Kennedys " Kill the poor" song was deemed "extremist" and banned countrywide.
*1961 chemistry textbook was banned as a chapter on synthesis of ketones was described by court as "undermining security of the country".
The Ministry of Justice maintains a list of "extremist materials" which are illegal to share.

From 2021 Russia Today was increasingly involved in tracking any independent media outlets and singling them out as "foreign agents". RT relied on its own investigations and also on work of "patriotic" activists such as Alexander Ionov and Vitaly Borodin.

In September 2021 OCCRP declared it will cease work in Russia as a significant number of journalists cooperating with OCCRP were harassed by the authorities.

The regulations about extremist content are being applied selectively: in October 2021 the "Republic" news website was fined by Roscomnadzor for mentioning the Taliban without making a mandatory remark about its "banned terrorist organization", while at the same time state media agency Rossiya Segodnya sent out an internal memo to its reporters to discontinue adding the same remark to their news, which was described by editor of "Republic" as "introduction of two parallel legal realities".

References to the annexation of Crimea

After Russia took control of Crimea, the Russian parliament passed a law making it a criminal offense to question Russia's territorial integrity within what the government considers its borders. A man named Andrei Bubayev was jailed for two years for reposting a picture of a toothpaste tube with the words "squeeze Russia out of yourself" and an article under the headline "Crimea is Ukraine" by a controversial blogger, who is in jail now, calling for military aggression against Russia.

The Russian-language edition of the popular bestseller 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari published in 2019 had references to the annexation of Crimea and Putin removed or replaced on the topic of fake news, with some other references to them changed. The author said that he gave permission to the changes. He said that he has allowed changes in other translations as certain examples "could deter those audiences or spur censorship on the part of certain regimes".

Law Against Rehabilitation of Nazism

A number of people were fined after the 2014 law against the "rehabilitation of Nazism" which includes criminalising what is deemed to be false information about the Soviet Union that is intentionally spread. Putin and other officials have talked about the need to counter the "rewriting of history", opposing interpretations that differ from official narratives.

Law on "educational activities"

In 2021 a new law was proposed to regulate "educational activities" ( Russian: "просветительская деятельность"), which would require government license for any kind of educational activity, including public or private lectures, podcasts, video lectures etc. The proposal caused a large outcry from scientific community, including petition signed by nearly 250'000 people. Lawmaker Valentina Matvienko defended the measures explaining they "can be defined in different ways and very broadly", which was precisely why the law was so controversial as critics pointed out that in the Russian practice law enforcement will be stretching it beyond any common sense and use for prosecution of free speech.

Internet censorship and surveillance

Russia was found to engage in selective Internet filtering in the political and social areas; no evidence of filtering was found in the conflict/security and Internet tools areas by the OpenNet Initiative in December 2010."ONI Country Profiles"
, Research section at the OpenNet Initiative web site, a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa Russia was on Reporters Without Borders list of countries under surveillance from 2010 to 2013''Internet Enemies''
, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012 and was moved to the Internet Enemies list in 2014."Internet Enemies"
''Enemies of the Internet 2014: Entities at the heart of censorship and surveillance'', Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 11 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014. On 31 March 2013, '' The New York Times'' reported that Russia was beginning 'Selectively Blocking heInternet'.
* Russia's System of Operational-Investigatory Measures (SORM) requires telecommunications operators to install hardware provided by the Federal Security Service (FSB). It allow the agency to unilaterally monitor users' communications metadata and content, including phone calls, email traffic and web browsing activity. Metadata can be obtained without a warrant. In 2014, the system was expanded to include social media platforms, and the Ministry of Communications ordered companies to install new equipment with Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capability. In 2015, the European Court for Human Rights found Russia's SORM surveillance legislation and practice in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (''Zakharov v. Russia'').
* The Russian internet blacklist law (2012) faced criticism by major websites and NGOs on it launch. At the time of introduction the list was described as a means for the protection of children from harmful content; particularly content which glorifies drug usage, advocates suicide or describes suicide methods, or contain child pornography. In 2013 the blacklist law was amended with a clause to block content "suspected in extremism". It was expanded to include actions such as "calling for illegal meetings", "inciting hatred" and any other actions "violating the established order".Internet Restriction Bill Passes First Reading
, ''The Moscow Times'', 8 July 2012, retrieved 9 July 2012 During the 2014 Crimea Crisis, Roskomnadzor blocked a number of websites criticising Russian policy in Ukraine, including pages of Alexei Navalny, Garri Kasparov and ''Grani.ru''. In July 2014, the online extremism law was used to prevent a march for Siberian autonomy.Freedom House, reedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/russia Russia 2015 Press Freedom report/ref> In subsequent years, it has been used to block caricatures of Vladimir Putin and LGBTQ content.
* The "Bloggers law" (2014), an amendment to existing anti-terrorism legislation, requires all web services to store the user data of Russian citizens on servers within the country. Sites which do not comply with this requirement may be added to the blacklist. Since August 2014, the law requires operators of free Wi-Fi hotspots (e.g. in restaurants, libraries, cafes etc.) to collect personal details of all users and identify them using passports.
* The "Yarovaya law" (2016) requires telecom operators to store recordings of phone conversations, text messages and users' internet traffic for up to 6 months, as well as metadata for up to 3 years. This data as well as "all other information necessary" is available to authorities on request and without a court order.
Social media platforms came under increased pressure in 2014. In April the founder of Vkontakte, Pavel Durov, announced he'd resign and leave the country due to FSB intimidation, after he refused to hand over the account data of Ukrainian activists. In September 2014 Vkontakte was taken over by mail.ru, owned by Kremlin-friendly businessman Alisher Usmanov.

* In 2004, Russia pressured Lithuania and in 2006 Sweden into shutting down the Kavkaz Center website, a site that supports creation of a Sharia state in North Caucasus and hosts videos on terrorist attacks on Russian forces in North Caucasus.
* Magomed Yevloyev, editor of Ingushetia.org

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