(C) Global Voices
This story was originally published by Global Voices and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Users in Russia could be punished for searching the internet [1]
['Daria Dergacheva']
Date: 2025-07-29
The Russian State Duma, the seat of the country's parliament, passed a bill on July 22 introducing fines for searching for “extremist” content on the internet. Additionally, a new law now classifies the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) as an aggravating circumstance in crimes, which can make offenses more serious in the eyes of the law and attract stiffer penalties.
State Duma representative Anton Gorelkin, writing on his Telegram channel, said, “Citizens will be able to freely use VPNs for any legal purposes. But if someone uses such services to commit a crime, it will be considered an aggravating circumstance.”
Under the new amendment, people can be fined between RUB 3,000 and 5,000 (approximately USD 33 to 55) for searching for or accessing “extremist materials/information” — including through VPNs — even if those websites are already officially blocked. The law also introduces fines for promoting or advertising tools that bypass internet restrictions, such as VPNs. The fines range from USD 555 for individuals to USD 5,550 for legal entities.
As Meduza explains, “extremist materials” in the amendments have a broad definition. The new article in the law explicitly mentions two methods by which to determine whether or not information is considered “extremist.” The first way, which is transparent, states that the material needs to be included in the publicly available federal list of extremist materials. That list currently contains over 5,000 websites.
The second method, whereby the authors of the amendment cite the definition of “extremist materials” using the federal law “On Countering Extremist Activity,” opens the door to broad interpretation and potential abuse. According to this law, extremist materials can include any documents or information that call for extremist activity, or justify or validate the necessity of such activity.
The concept of “extremist activity” in Russian legislation today is quite far-reaching: it includes terrorist activity, as well as the use of symbols of organizations deemed “extremist” in Russia. This label has, for example, been applied to the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Alexey Navalny, and even to the “international public LGBT movement.”
Independent Russian media outlets have not yet been labeled as “extremist,” but in the absence of legislation preventing the authorities from doing so, Meduza suggests that the existing amendments are a step in the direction of the criminalization of reading, since such a move would, in effect, ban people from reading these information sources altogether.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://globalvoices.org/2025/07/29/users-in-russia-could-be-punished-for-searching-the-internet/
Published and (C) by Global Voices
Content appears here under this condition or license:
https://globalvoices.org/about/global-voices-attribution-policy/.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/globalvoices/
