The Russian fake news laws are a group of federal laws prohibiting the dissemination of information considered "unreliable" by Russian authorities, establishing the punishment for such dissemination, and allowing the

Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN) (russian: Роскомнадзор �КН, is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, co ...

to extrajudicially block access to online media publishing such information. The most well known of these laws is the Federal Law of 4 March 2022 No.32-FZ enacted during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

; the adoption of this law caused the mass exodus of foreign

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and termination of the activity of independent Russian media.

2019 Fake News Law

On 18 March 2019,

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

signed the law No.31-FZ allowing the

Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN) (russian: Роскомнадзор �КН, is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, co ...

to block access to any online media in case of revealing an "unreliable information". On the same day, Putin signed the law No.27-FZ establishing the administrative fines for natural persons and juridical persons for publication of "unreliable information".

2019 Disrespect to Authorities Law

On 18 March 2019, Vladimir Putin signed the law No.28-FZ that punishes "'blatant disrespect online for the state, the authorities, the public, the Russian flag or the constitution" by a fine or by imprisonment for up to 15 days in the case of repeat offences, and the law No.30-FZ also allows the

to request the removal of such "disrespectful statements".

2020 COVID-19 Fake News Law

On 1 April 2020, Vladimir Putin signed the laws No.99-FZ and No.100-FZ establishing the administrative and criminal punishment for a dissemination of unreliable information about circumstances that threat to life and health of a citizen including epidemic, natural and technological disasters, emergency, and measures to ensure the security. These laws were aimed at making illegal any doubts as to the nature of COVID-19 and the reasonableness of the measures to combat the epidemic.

2022 war censorship laws

On 4 March 2022, in the background of the ongoing

, Vladimir Putin signed the laws No.31-FZ and No.32-FZ, often referred to as the "fakes law" (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ''закон о фейках''). The bill amended the

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation The Russian Criminal Code (russian: Уголовный кодекс Российской Федерации, frequently abbreviated УК РФ) is the prime source of the Law of the Russian Federation concerning criminal offences. The 1996 Crim ...

, which was supplemented by the article 207.3 "Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation." It introduced criminal liability for the dissemination of knowingly false information about the actions of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

, the maximum punishment under the article was 15 years imprisonment. The Chapter 29 of the Criminal Code of Russia was also supplemented by the articles 280.3 and 284.2. According to the article 280.3, the "discrediting" of Russian Armed Forces and its operations, including the calls for prevention of the use of Russian Armed Forces for the interests of the Russian Federation is punishable by imprisonment for a term of five years. The article 284.2 established responsibility for calls by a Russian citizen to impose sanctions against Russia, Russian citizens or Russian legal entities; such calls are punishable by imprisonment for a term of three years. The same actions were included into new articles 20.3.3 and 20.3.4 of the

Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses The Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses (russian: Кодекс Российской Федерации об административных правонарушениях, frequently abbreviated КоАП РФ) is the administr ...

. The first call against the use of

or the call for sanctions on Russia is punishable with a heavy fine according to the Code on Administrative Offenses, the second call is punishable with imprisonment according to the Criminal Code. On 25 March 2022, Vladimir Putin signed the laws No.62-FZ and No.63-FZ, that amended Article 20.3.3 of the RF Code of Administrative Offenses and Article 280.3 of the RF Criminal Code. These amendments made punishable "discrediting" of exercise of the powers, carrying out by not only Russian Armed Forces but any Russian state body (including

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

, Ministry of Emergency Situations, General Prosecutor's Office, Investigative Committee,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

) outside Russian territory.

Effect on media

Many Russian media outlets were forced to stop covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine because of this bill, including '' Colta.ru'', ''Snob'' online magazine, ''Znak.com'', "The Bell" online magazine, and ''

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...

''.

Dozhd TV Rain ( rus, Дождь, Dozhd, p=ˈdoʂtʲ, a=Ru-дождь (doʂtʲ).ogg; stylized ДОДЬ) is an independent Russian television channel. It was launched in 2010 in Russia, and since 2022 was based in Latvia. It focuses on news, discussio ...

said it was temporarily suspending operations due to the enactment of the aforementioned law.

Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

announced that it would stop working in Russia due to the new law on fakes, but would continue to cover events in Ukraine while abroad. The following foreign news agencies and TV stations—

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major multimedia news agency in Spanish language and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was created in 1939 ...

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

TG5 ''TG5'' (''TeleGiornale 5'') is a news programme on the Italian TV channel Canale 5, part of the Mediaset network and owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is broadcast domestically on Canale 5 and Mediaset TGcom24 several times a day. The rating f ...

and

ANSA Ansa (Latin for "handle") or ANSA may refer to: Organizations * Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency ** Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above * Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia * Association of Norw ...

—stopped working in Russia. By 7 March 2022, according to

Agentstvo Proekt (), also known as Agentstvo (), is an independent Russian media outlet specialising in investigative journalism. History and activities Since 2001, has worked for '' Gazeta.Ru'', ''Forbes'', Interfax, RBK and Dozhd as editor-in-chief ...

, over 150 journalists left Russia after Putin signed the bill into law. On 7 April 2022, to avoid prosecutions under the law, journalists from ''Novaya Gazeta'' announced the launch of ''Novaya Gazeta Europe''. Its editor-in-chief

Kirill Martynov Kirill Konstantinovich Martynov (; born 25 April 1981) is a Russian journalist, political scientist, philosopher and writer. He is the editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe and former associate professor at the Higher School of Economics (HS ...

stated that ''Novaya Gazeta Europe'' would be independent of ''Novaya Gazeta'', "both legally and in practice", with its newsroom made up of staffers who have left Russia. In the months following the beginning of the war, virtually all remaining independent media in Russia were terminated by the

for violation of the censorship laws: liberal radio station

Echo of Moscow Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local ra ...

was closed on 3 March and replaced by the propaganda outlet

Radio Sputnik Sputnik (; formerly Voice of Russia and RIA Novosti, naming derived from Russian ) is a Russian State media, state-owned news agency and radio broadcast service. It was established by the Government of Russia, Russian government-owned news age ...

, TV channel

was closed in March, online publications '' The New Times'' and ''

The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...

'' were blocked from the internet in Russia and ''Novaya Gazeta'' was forced to suspended publications and later shut down in September.

Similar Belarusian law

On 14 December 2021,

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука� ...

signed Law No.133-Z, amending Article 361 of the

Criminal Code of Belarus The Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Крымінальны кодэкс Рэспублікі Беларусь — КК РБ K RB russian: Уголовный кодекс Республики Беларусь — УК РБ K RB cont ...

. These amendments criminalized appeals for sanctions against Belarus, Belarusian legal and natural persons and established a penalty of imprisonment for up to six years for making such appeals. Appeals to foreign countries and the dissemination of such appeals are punishable by a term of imprisonment from three to 10 years. The same appeals made via the media or the internet are punishable for a term of four to 12 years. This bill was adopted in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

against a background of the ongoing political crisis in the country.

References

{{reflist

External links

"Charges for anti-war protests in Russia", Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
2019 in law 2020 in law 2022 in law 2019 in Russia 2020 in Russia 2022 in Russia Law of Russia Censorship in Russia Disinformation operations Pseudohistory Fake news Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine News media in Russia