Russian bird lovers targeted as ‘foreign agents’

May 15th, 2013

Russian opposition supporters gathered on 6 May to protest against Vladimir Putin and demanded the release of political prisoners. Photo: Elena Ignatyeva / Demotix

An organisation behind a nature reserve dedicated to the protection of Russia’s cranes has been ordered to register as “a foreign agent” under the country’s non-governmental organisation law. The case highlights how arbitrary implementation is chilling free expression in the country, Andrei Aliaksandrau reports.

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What Russia censored in March

April 30th, 2013

Education and schools

ISPs win small victory on child protection

Reports from 1 March stated that Vladimir Putin agreed a change to the Russian administrative code exempting internet service providers from responsibility for preventing availability to children of harmful materials from publicly accessible internet services. Responsibility now rests with all “persons who provide access to information distributed via telecommunication networks in places accessible to children” rather than ISPs.

Saratov demands better filtering

On 13 March the Saratov regional prosecutor reported that the Bazarno-Karabulaksky district prosecutor had discovered that pornographic websites were accessible from computers in the village school of Alekseevka. Similar violations were discovered in schools of Maksimovka, Vyazovka and Sukhoi Karabulak. The schools were told to upgrade their content filtering.

Tyva schools ordered to improve content filtering

On 27 March it was reported that the Tandinsky district court in the Tyva Republic had accepted a district prosecutor’s demand that Kochetovo village school enhance its content filtering. An inspection had found that students could access websites providing instructions on manufacturing smoking blends and explosives, as well as publications included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Neryungri prosecutor demands filtering

It was reported on 27 March that the Neryungri prosecutor had discovered that computers in several schools and a college allowed access to undesirable websites. Educational managers were fined for their negligence and content filters are currently being installed.

Pskov clamps down on porn

On 29 March it was reported that the Dnovsky district prosecutor in Pskov had discovered that students in a secondary school in the town of Dno were able to freely access pornographic websites and sites promoting the use of illegal drugs. The school was told to stop allowing such access.

Bashkortostan targets cannabis site

The Meleuzovsky prosecutor in Bashkortostan discovered that banned websites were accessible in several Meleuz educational institutions. Students in one school could access a website containing information on manufacturing hashish. The prosecutor demanded that the schools restrict access.

Extremism

Extremism “discovered in burger bar”

On 28 February an inspection by the counter-propaganda department of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic ministry of the interior’s anti-extremism unit found an extremist website on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, made publicly accessible from a computer in the Momento Burger internet cafe in Cherkessk. The case is now being considered by the local prosecutor.

Syktyvkar assault on ‘extremist materials’

It was reported on 15 March that the Syktyvkar city court had accepted its prosecutor’s writ demanding that access to 20 sites be restricted by the ISP ParmaTel for featuring extremist materials.

Vologda blocks Islamist website

On 18 March it was reported that the Sokolsky prosecutor had issued a request to an ISP to block access to radical Islamist websites including an article included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Samara clamps down

On 19 March the Kirovsky district court of Samara granted the prosecutor’s office claim against an Internet provider for providing access to a website that contained the book The Gardens of the Righteous by Imam Abu Zakaria Mohiuddin Yahya. The book is included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Moscow prosecutor restricts access

On 19 March it was reported that Gagarinsky prosecutor in in Moscow had filed a writ with Gagarinsky district court against the ISP Niko-2001, demanding restrictions on access to five websites containing publications on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The ISP complied and the case was dropped.

Nazis suppressed in Lipetsk

Reports from 19 March stated that the Sovetsky district prosecutor in Lipetsk had successfully demanded that the White Resistance (Beloie Soprotivleniie) website be recognised as extremist because it contained Aryan supremacy propaganda, including Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Ulyanovsk goes for Islamists

On 21 March the Ulyanovsk regional prosecutor stated that the Inzensky district prosecutor had found a number of publicly accessible websites containing extremist materials, including the Letter of the Autonomous Mujahideen Group of Vilayata KBK IK, which is on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The district prosecutor has served a writ against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom demanding that access be blocked.

Saratov upholds ban

On 22 March it was reported that the civil law panel of the Saratov regionial court had upheld a lower court’s decision to order the ISPs COMSTAR-Regions and Altura to restrict access to websites containing extremist materials.

Saratov prosecutor sues against hatred

On 27 March the Saratov regional prosecutor was reported to have filed eight writs against the ISP COMSTAR-Regiony and the regional branch of the ISP Rostelekom, demanding restrictions on access to websites containing references to extremist activity and materials aimed at inciting hatred or enmity.

Poem targeted in Tambov

On 27 March it was reported that the Michurinsk city prosecutor in Tambov had demanded that the ISP Telesputnik restrict access to a web page containing a poem included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The poem was declared extremist by a city court in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 2007.

Chelyabinsk restricts nationalist site

On 28 March the Chelyabinsk regional prosecutor announced that the Leninsky district prosecutor in Magnitogorsk had filed seven writs demanding that ISPs restrict access to a right-wing website publishing extremist materials — among them the the article Open Questions of Russian Nationalism.

Sverdlovsk targets Islamists

On 28 March the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor announced that the Kamensk-Uralsky prosecutor had filed several writs against the ISPs Kamensk-Telekom and Konveks-Kamensk and the regional branch of Rostelekom demanding restrictions on access to websites containing materials on the Federal List of Extremist Materials including the tract Adhering to the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him).

Bryansk ISP gets court order

On 28 March it was announced that the Bryansk regional court had granted the request of the Volodarsky district prosecutor to restrict access to websites containing extremist materials. The Sovetsky district court last year rejected the request but was overturned on appeal.

Ivanovo prosecutor wants explosives ban

On 28 March the Ivanovo regional prosecutor reported that the Teikovsky prosecutor had identified publicly accessible websites that contain information about manufacturing explosives. Writs demanding restriction of access to the websites were subsequently issued.

Kirov kills fascist website

On 28 March the Kirov regional prosecutor reported that a publicly accessible website offering items with fascist symbols for sale was identified during an audit. The Kirov city prosecutor demanded that the ISP MTC block access and the court complied.

Gambling and online casinos

‘No more gambling’ in Chapayevsk

On 6 March the Samara regional prosecutor declared that the Lenin district court of Samara had accepted 19 complaints by the Chapayevsk town prosecutor about inadequate restrictions on access to gambling websites.

Ulyanovsk restricts pyramid schemes

On 14 March it was reported that the Novomalyklinsky district prosecutor’s office of the Ulyanovsk region had issued writs against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom demanding restrictions on access to websites run by the pyramid-scheme impresario Sergey Mavrodi.

Kurgan stops the betting

On 15 March it was reported that the Dalmatovsky district prosecutor had identified 25 gambling websites. The prosecutor demanded that the ISP Rus block the sites, and it agreed.

Online gambling halted in Penza

On 15 March the Penza regional prosecutor reported that the Lenin district prosecutor had identified 13 online casino websites. The prosecutor filed a writ against the ISP Rostelekom demanding that access be restricted, which was granted.

Orenburg rules out casinos

On 15 March it was reported that the Novotroitsk town court in the Orenburg region had agreed to a  prosecutor’s demands for restrictions on access to online casino sites. The ISP Ass-Com blocked more than 20 websites voluntarily.

Omsk bars access to gambling

On 20 March the Leninsky district prosecutor’s office in Omsk sued the ISP Sakhalin in the Leninsky district court, demanding restrictions on access to pyramid-scheme websites.

Pskov stops the gamblers

On 21 March it was reported that the Pskov regional prosecutor had found 85 websites with gambling-related information and demanded access restrictions for the sites. After a long legal wrangle, the local branch of the ISP Rostelecom was ordered to restrict access.

Khanty-Mansiysk closes online bookies

On 22 March the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous district prosecutor’s office reported that the Nyagan Town prosecutor had identified several gambling websites. Based on the results of the inspection, the prosecutor filed a lawsuit against the local Rostelekom branch demanding that access to the websites be restricted. The Khanty-Mansiysk district court has granted the petition in full.

Perm blocks gambling access

On 26 March the Perm regional prosecutor reported that pyramid-scheme websites had been found in the public domain in Chernushinsky district. The district prosecutor issued a writ demanding that the local ISP restrict access to these sites, which was accepted by the district court.

Khanty-Mansiysk clamps down

On 26 March it was reported that the appeal court in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district had accepted demands from local prosecutors that pyramid-scheme websites be blocked.

Social networks

Twitter closes account and deleted Tweets

On 15 March it became known that in the two preceding weeks Twitter had blocked access to five tweets and closed one user account upon request from Roskomnadzor because its owner advertised the sales of illegal drugs. Three Tweets were blocked for promoting suicide and two more for assisting in drug distribution. The deleted user’s account had advertised a drug distribution network, and was reported to Roskomnadzor by Twitter after its removal.

ISP blocks social networks in Ryazan and Orel

On 28 March it was reported that the ISP Rostelekom had blocked the Odnoklassniki and VKontakte social networks in the Ryazan and Orel regions and had blocked access to YouTube in Orel and Livejournal in Ryazan. The websites were included on the Registry of Banned Sites, but the block was later lifted.

Roskomnadzor warns Facebook

On 28 March it was reported that the federal communications agency Roskomnadzor notified Facebook that it would be blocked unless it removed a page called “Suicide school”, containing (mostly humurous) information about suicide. The page was added to Russia’s internet blacklist and was taken down by the social networking site.

Drugs and pornography

Samara blocks drug-dealing sites

On 12 March it was reported that the Novokuibyshevsk city court in Samara region had demanded that local ISPs MIRS, Next Tell-Samara, Progress IT and TesComVolga restrict access to 25 websites that offered narcotics and psychedelic substances for sale. The websites were identified during an audit conducted by the FSB Department of Samara Region.

Sverdlovsk prosecutor demands drugs action

Reports from 12 March stated that the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor had filed eight writs against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom,  demanding restrictions on access to the websites containing material encouraging the use of illegal drugs.

Vladimir restricts access to porn and drugs

On 18 March the Vladimir regional prosecutor declared that the Kolchuginsky interdistrict prosecutor had  found websites containing pornographic materials, information about drug manufacturing and articles about suicide methods, made publicly accessible from a computer installed in the Kolchugino town post office. The prosecutor issued a writ against against a local branch of the ISP Rostelekom demanding that access be restricted, to which the ISP agreed.

Samara prosecutor demands porn block

On 19 March it was reported that the Novokuibyshevsk city prosecutor had filed six writs to block websites featuring child pornography. The lawsuits are pending.

Khabarovsk court upholds ISP porn decision

On 21 March it was reported that the Khabarovsk regional court had upheld the decision of the Centralny district court in October 2012 against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom, restricting access to two websites with pornographic content.

And the rest…

Website blocked for suicide book

On 27 March it was reported that a book by Perm psychotherapist Yuri Vagin, Aesthetics of Suicide (Estetika samoubiystva) had been categorised as extremist. The federal communications agency Roskomnadzor included the website of the Perm psychoanalytic society, which published the book, on the Registry of Banned Sites.

Orthodox parish registered as dangerous

On 27 March it was reported that Roskomnadzor had included the website of Svyato-Vvedensky parish of Rostov on the Register of Banned Sites. As of 30 March, a message “The requested page could not be found” could be seen when attempting to access the site.

Websites warned over Pussy Riot

On 5 March Roskomnadzor reported that it had issued warnings in late February 2013 to the editorial boards of Argumenty i Fakty newspaper and the Polit.ru online news service for republishing a video clip by the Pussy Riot punk collective. The video had been previously been defined by a court as extremist.

Popular writers blog added to banned list

On 19 March Roskomnadzor added to the Register of Banned Sites a page from the online blog of popular writer Leonid Kaganov that featured the lyrics to a satirical song from a 1990s TV show — supposedly for encouraging suicide. A blog post in which Kaganov commented on this ban was then added to the register — and then so was his entire blog, even though, on the request of Roskomnadzor, Kaganov removed the contentious lyrics from his blog.

Sakhalin ISP told to stop giving bribery tips

On 26 March the Sakhalin regional court reversed a previous Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk city court decision not to ban the ISP Rostelekom from allowing access to a website containing information about giving bribes. The ISP must now restrict access to the site.

Andrei Soldatov is a Russian journalist, and together with Irina Borogan, co-founder of the Agentura.Ru website. Last year, Soldatov and Borogan co-authored The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia’s Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB (PublicAffairs)

Self-censorship’s chill on artistic freedom in Russia

April 17th, 2013

Self-censorship has poisoned Russian media, art and other spheres.

In the past few years, criminal prosecution of artists and new laws have made it clear for those who criticise the Kremlin or Russian Orthodox Church in their creative work, will face consequences for portraying either of these institutions negatively.

A Russian artist came under fire for depicting members of Pussy Riot as religious icons

Just last week, the State Duma passed two controversial laws in the first hearing. One forbids obscene language in movies, books, TV, and radio during mass public events. The other stipulates criminal punishment — including five years in prison — for “insulting believers’ feelings”. Both laws, as far as human rights activists are concerned, limit artists’ freedom of expression, and encourage self-censorship.

Index spoke to three notable artists to find out how the art community deals with self-censorship, and the ever-increasing restrictions on freedom of expression in Russia.

Artyom Loskutov, an artist from Novosibirsk, is famous for holding “monstrations” — flash mobs with absurd slogans like “Tanya, don’t cry” and “Who’s there?”. In 2009, he was arrested on drug possession charges, but he claims that the marijuana was planted on him by police. A blood test proved that he had not taken any drugs, and his fingerprints were not found on the package. Three years on, he faced three administrative cases, and paid a 1000 rouble fine for creating icon-like images of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina and placing them on billboards. He was accused of insulting believers. He is currently appealing the court ruling in the European Court of Human Rights.

The artist told Index that the cases against him are acts of censorship, but vows to remain defiant and continue with his work:

The icons idea concerned two kinds of mothers: one mother is honoured as a saint, the two others — Tolokonnikova and Alekhina — were thrown in prison. The authorities, including the court, are becoming more insane, and one wouldn’t want to cause persecutions. But I can’t say that  given that, I refuse to implement any of my plots. In the 90s my generation felt that we had nothing, except free speech, and all the 2000s attempts to take it away meet nothing but incomprehension

In 2010, The prosecutor’s office  in Moscow’s Bassmany district examined the works of Moscow-based artist Lena Hades,  “Chimera of Mysterious Russian Soul” and “Welcome to Russia”. Russian nationalists appealed to the authorities claiming these paintings insult Russians. The case did not go to court, but Hades told Index that Russian galleries feared exhibiting her paintings after the incident.

“Galleries are afraid of financial sanctions,” Hades says, “Although 95 per cent of my paintings are about philosophy rather than about social events, they are only exhibited in Tretyakov Gallery and Moscow Museum of Modern Art”.

Despite reduced chances of her work being exhibited, Hades still painted Pussy Riot’s members, and went on a 25-day hunger strike against their prosecution. The artist is no fan of self-censorship, even if it comes at a cost. According to her, no artist that responds to reality can accept self-censorship:

This is not courage, this is aristocratic luxury of doing what you want. Self-censorship is more harmful for a modern Russian artist than censorship. He is frightened of scaring away galleries and buyers and prefers to paint landscapes with cows — anything far enough from real social life

Artist Boris Zhutovsky has a long-standing relationship with censorship. In 1962, he was slammed by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who banned work by Zhutovsky and his colleagues. For several years following the incident, the artist faced difficulties in finding employment, and his work was not exhibited in the USSR.

Zhutovsky continues to court controversy today: in the past few years he has painted the trials of Russia’s most well-known political prisoners, businessmen Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who were first convicted in 2005. He explained Russia’s culture of self-censorship to Index:

Self-censorship is based on fear, and the amplitude of this fear has changed throughout my life. In the times of Stalin, it was the fear of the Gulag and execution. In the times of Khruschev it was the fear of loosing a job or a country – a person could be forced to leave the Soviet Union. After Perestroika the fear shrank, and now the fear which nourishes self-censorship is the fear to anger your boss

He is optimistic that a younger generation of artists will not accept self-censorship as a standard, as the the era of Putin is far from that of Stalin, but only time will tell.

Prosecutors crack down on Russian NGOs

April 2nd, 2013

Russian non-governmental organisations are facing a wave of state inspections, which some believe are taking place as  revenge for united protests against a law classifying international NGOs as “foreign agents”.

The list of NGOs visited by prosecutors and other inspectors during last days, is impressive: Transparency International, Amnesty International, Memorial, Moscow Helsinki Group, Human Rights Watch, Agora, For Human Rights (Za prava cheloveka), GOLOS, and numerous regional NGOs.

Even regional organisation Shield and Sword of Chuvashiya, which actually appealed to the Ministry of Justice seeking “foreign agents” status, has received a notification of an inspection.

According to the law, an NGO that receives financing from abroad, has to register as “foreign agent” or face criminal charges. “Foreign agents” are obliged to mark the literature and online content they produce as “distributed by foreign agent”. The law stipulates that they have to report to inspection bodies far more often than organisations that do not receive financing from abroad. The frequency of “foreign agents” inspections is not limited by the law. Russian authorities have gained a legal tool for paralysing NGOs they don’t like simply by swamping them with inspections.

Several human rights NGOs unanimously concluded the law doesn’t comply with justice and the constitution and made a decision to boycott it by not registering as foreign agents.

Many of them came through planned inspections by the Ministry of Justice this winter – not as “foreign agents”, just as NGOs – to face extraordinary prosecutors’, tax, sanitary and other authorities’ inspections in March.

Russian veteran rights activist, head of “For Human Rights” organization Lev Ponomarev refused to provide prosecutors with the organisation’s documentation. He says, according to the law about, prosecutors had to provide him with information about violations of law by his organisation – such information being supposedly the only purpose for their sudden extraordinary inspections.

Prosecutors still haven’t provided NGOs with this information.

But the General prosecutor’s office representative Marina Gridneva has said the prosecutors “act in compliance with the law”.

President Vladimir Putin, replying to Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin concerns over the inspections, said these “are routine measures linked to the desire of the law enforcement agencies to bring the activities of organisations in line with the law.”

Political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin told Index on Censorship that the authorities aim to emphatically close one of Russian human rights NGO “or make it hysterical” in order to chill others.

“The authorities think the problem will be solved, when someone shuts down in fear” said Oreshkin. “Lev Ponomarev has survived the Soviet era fighting for human rights, he knows the law better than law enforcement bodies, and he is not likely to be the one to fulfill the authorities’ expectations by fearing them.”

The authorities, according to Oreshkin, are demonstrating incompetence and incapability.

“The NGO boycott obviously enraged the Kremlin. Human rights activists, more than anyone else, now how crucially solidarity is.”

The state’s inconsistence, demonstrated during the ongoing NGOs inspections is based on a wrong perception of the word “law”, Oreshkin claims:

“The law concerns a citizen and an authority; the authorities have passed laws against citizens hoping they won’t have to keep within the law themselves”.

What Russia censored in February

March 27th, 2013

It became clear in February that internet censorship in Russia could be expanded to include sites with gay content. The State Duma voted for a bill banning “propaganda” for homosexuality involving minors, the second reading of which is scheduled for 25 May.

Many commentators believe that by then the bill will include amendments extending the list of conditions for blocking websites to include those containing information about homosexuality, which could be blocked without a court order. Current laws on protection of children could be similarly amended.

Duma deputy Elena Mizulina stated: “No adult has the right to impose their sexual preferences on a person under 18 years of age. Propaganda for homosexuality should be considered information inappropriate for children.” The League for Internet Safety, which is backed by the Kremlin and was behind the introduction of the register of banned websites in Russia, supports the initiative.

Schools, students, libraries and a post office

Tuva prosecutor demands school filters
On 22 February it was reported by the Ulug-Khem district prosecutor’s office of the Tuva republic that computers in a school that had been discovered in an inspection last October to allow unfettered access to extremist websites were still lacking filtering software. The computers, in a school in the town of Shagonar, allowed access to Islamist, anti-Semitic and fascist videos and books. The prosecutor demanded that the republic’s minister of education penalise the school’s principal and ensure that the school end the violations.

Stavropol attack on “harmful” advertising
On 26 February it was reported that a prosecutor’s audit of the Stavropol region in January had found that internet service providers were placing ads for pornographic materials and films featuring scenes of cruelty on school websites hosted on portals narod.ru and ukoz.ru. On 9 January, the prosecutor’s office told the head of the Stavropol city education office to cease violating legislation on the rights of minors. Ten school principals now face disciplinary action.

Restrictions on student access in Vologda
On 28 February it was reported that the Vologda city prosecutor had found websites containing extremist and pornographic materials and alcohol advertising to be accessible from computers in five schools. The prosecutor told the schools to block students’ access.

Rural school told: block “damaging” information
On 18 February it was reported that the Kalininskii district prosecutor in the Saratov region had found that computers in the Simonovka village secondary school provided access to websites “that could damage the health and moral and spiritual development of children”. The prosecutor told the school administration to cease the violations.

Library must restrict access to explosives sites
On 18 February it was reported that the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district prosecutor had found that Beloyarsk library computers provided access to websites with information on manufacturing explosives. The library was told to cease the violations and to bring charges against those responsible.

Surgut prosecutor hits at school porn
On 22 February it was reported that the Surgut district prosecutor had found that computers in the Lyaminsk high school allowed access to pornographic material. The prosecutor demanded that the school install content-filtering software to restrict students’ access to harmful websites.

Amur school instructed to block violence
On 11 February it was reported that the Bureya district prosecutor of the Amur region had found that computers in Rodionovo secondary school allowed access to sites promoting violence and brutality, drugs, pornography and anti-social behaviour. The school principal was ordered to cease the violations and bring disciplinary action against those responsible.

Kostroma post office fined
On 13 February the Kostroma region prosecutor reported that an inspection by the Mezhevsky district prosecutor had revealed that a computer in the Georgievskoe village post office allowed access to extremist materials and information on the manufacturing and use of tobacco and illegal drugs. After a court case, the post office was fined 20,000 rubles (£425).

Bashkortostan court orders school filters
On 13 February it was announced that Dyurtyuli interdistrict prosecutor in Bashkortostan had found that computers in schools provided access to websites with information on narcotics. The prosecutor demanded that the schools install filtering software and limit access to these sites, demands that were backed by a court.

School head sued on access to extremism
On 6 February it was reported that the Umetskii district prosecutor in the Tambov region had found a computer in a local high school that allowed access to extremist materials. The principal of the school was ordered to cease allowing access, and the prosecutor recommended disciplinary charges against the responsible parties.

“Students need protection” in Kineshima
On 6 February the Ivanovo regional prosecutor reported that the Kineshma prosecutor had found that computers in the city’s schools provided access to extremist materials. The schools were ordered to cease violations of anti-extremism legislation.

Salekhard school must install internet filters
On 6 February it was reported that the Salekhard city prosecutor had found that students of a secondary school were inadequately protected from harmful information: computers at the school could be used to access pornographic material, information about manufacturing explosives, and texts with foul language. The principal was ordered to install working internet filters.

Prosecutor demands protection from poetry
On 8 February it was reported that Omsukchan district prosecutor in Magadan had established that filtering software in the Omsukchan village high school was failing to prevent access to extremist materials, including Vladimir Shcherbina’s poem “Progonite zhida” (Chase Away the Jew). The school was ordered to restrict access to the extremist websites.

Extremism

Altai court orders block on 29 websites
On 25 February the Gorno-Altaisk city court upheld the demand of the Altai Republic prosecutor that the regional branch of the ISP Mobil’nye TeleSystemy limit access to 29 websites. The materials include songs on the Federal List of Extremist Materials published on 12 websites, and a book also on the list published on 17 sites. The court ordered the ISP to limit access to these materials. The decision has not yet entered into force.

Saratov prosecutor demands restrictions
On 26 February it was reported that the Leninskii district prosecutor in Saratov had identified several sites “containing public calls for extremist activities, terrorism, incitement of hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity”. The prosecutor has ordered the regional branch of the ISP MTS to restrict access to these sites by installing IP-address filtering on its routers.

Extremist sites blocked in Smolensk
On 27 February it was reported that two websites containing extremist material had been blocked in response to a demand from the Roslavl prosecutor in the Smolensk region.

Yekaterinburg authorities block sites
On 27 February the Sverdlovsk regional appeal court considered the regional prosecutor’s appeal against the decision of the Upper Iset Yekaterinburg district court to dismiss the request of Zheleznodorozhnyi district prosecutor in Ekaterinburg to block access to four extremist websites. The appeal court overturned the original decision and ordered the ISP Telnet Service to restrict access to websites on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Omsk oppositionist added to register
On 27 February it was reported the administration of LiveJournal.com had blocked the account of Mikhail Yakovlev, the Omsk opposition leader. The author was notified that his page had been added to the Register of Banned Sites. According to Yakovlev, the ban could be related either to his criticism of the Sverdlovsk governor Yevgeniy Kuyvashev or to his liberal position on soft drugs.

Altai demands restrictions
On 18 February the Altai regional prosecutor announced that the Zarinsk prosecutor had identified several websites containing extremist materials and demanded that two ISPs use IP-address filtering to block them.

Kirov action against ISPs
On 18 February the Kirov district prosecutor in Samara filed 10 legal suits against ISPs demanding blocks on websites that contain extremist materials. The suits are currently being considered.

Extremist website accessed from college
On 20 February it was reported that the counterpropaganda officers of the Centre for Extremism Prevention of the Karachay-Cherkessia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs had discovered that computers at the Karachay-Cherkessia College of International Tourism and Hospitality Management in the village of Uchkeken, provided unfettered access to a website included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The audit results have been forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.

ISP blocks sites in Smolensk
On 11 February it was reported that in the city of Gagarin in the Smolensk region the ISP Orbit Plus partially blocked access to several sites that published Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other pro-Nazi texts. Last November the regional prosecutor demanded that the ISP cease violating the Law on Combating Extremist Activity.

Videos barred in Altai
On 13 February the Gorno-Altaisk city court considered a suit filed in January by the Altai republic’s prosecutor against the ISP Rostelecom demanding restrictions on access to extremist videos published via the online social network VKontakte. In the course of the trial it was established that access to the videos had been restricted prior to the start of the trial. The case was subsequently dismissed.

Islamist videos banned in Kursk
On 13 February it was reported that the Zheleznodorozhnyi district prosecutor in Kursk had found extremist materials accessible online including anti-Russian Islamist video clips and other materials aimed at undermining the constitution and justifying murders of law enforcement officers. The ISPs Aksinet and Comstar-Regiony were told to restrict access to the relevant sites and complied with the demand.

Audit of websites in Karachay-Cherkessia
On 5 February the Centre for Extremism Prevention and the FSB of the Karachay-Cherkessia republic identified a publicly accessible website containing extremist material. The audit results have been forwarded to the republic’s prosecutor.

ISP warned in Krasnodar
On 7 February the Krasnodar regional prosecutor reported that the Temryukskii district prosecutor had identified a publicly accessible website, Vilayat Dagestan – maintained by Imarat Kavkaz (“Caucasus Emirate”) organisation – publishing extremist materials. The director of the regional branch of the ISP MTS was warned about about the impermissibility of extremist activity.

Gambling and online casinos

Khanty-Mansiysk court blocks gambling
On 25 February it was reported that the Urai prosecutor in Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district had been granted court backing to ensure that the ISP Rostelecom block access to gambling websites.

Tula prosecutor goes for pyramid scheme

On 26 February the Sovetskii district prosecutor in Tula sued the ISPs Altair Tula, MTS, RadioPeydzh-T, Tulskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet and ER-Telecom Holding, demanding that they restrict access to sites of the MMM pyramid scheme.

Ufa prosecutor demands restrictions
On 25 February it was announced that the Sovetskii district prosecutor in Ufa had sued the ISP Ufanet demanding that it block access to 26 gambling websites.

Gambling targeted in Surgut
On 27 February the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district prosecutor reported that the Surgut city prosecutor had identified several illegal gambling websites. The prosecutor demanded that six ISPs restrict access.

Tula casino access barred
On 27 February it was reported that the Tsentralnyi district prosecutor in Tula had filed 33 writs against ISPs demanding restrictions on access to online casinos. The Tsentralnyi district court ordered the ISPs to comply.

Pyramid-scheme sites banned in Yamal-Nenets
On 1 March the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district prosecutor reported that the Gubkinskiy city prosecutor had identified pyramid-scheme advertising on 18 websites and that Gubkinskiy city court had accepted the prosecutor’s demand that the ISP Pursatkom restrict access to the sites.

Chita court order ISP to block pyramid schemes
On 19 February it was reported that the central district court of Chita had granted a prosecutor’s request to order the local branch of the ISP Rostelecom to restrict access to the sites of Sergei Mavrodi, the creator of pyramid schemes. The decision has not yet entered into force.

Samara bars gambling ads
On 19 February it was reported that the Neftegorsk interdistrict prosecutor in the Samara region had identified 10 sites that provided information about a pyramid scheme. The Leninskii district court of Samara accepted the prosecutor’s demand that the ISP Rostelecom limit access to these sites. The court’s decisions have not yet entered into force.

Casino sites blocked in Kaliningrad
On 20 February it was announced that the Moscovskii district prosecutor in Kaliningrad had identified two gambling websites. The ISP TIS-Dialogue agreed voluntarily to its demand that it limit access to these sites.

Computer club told to clamp down
On 21 February it was reported that Kurganinskii district prosecutor in Krasnodar had found a pyramid-scheme website to be accessible via a computer club. The prosecutor’s demands that the owner of the club restrict access were accepted by the district court.

Surgut blocks pyramid sites
On 12 February it was reported that the Surgut city prosecutor had successfully moved to restrict access to pyramid-scheme websites.

Online casinos blocked in Samara
On 13 February the Leninskii district court in Samara accepted nine demands from the Chapaevsk prosecutor for restrictions on access to online casinos. The decisions of the court have not yet entered into force.

Tula orders online casino ban
On 15 February it was reported that the Sovetskii district court of Tula had accepted prosecutors’ demands that ISPs Altair Tula, MTS, and ER-Telecom Holding block access to gambling websites.

Casinos blocked in Komi Republic
On 14 February it was reported that the Ukhta city prosecutor had been given court approval for its demand that the ISP GSP restrict access to nine gambling websites.

Drugs

Samara court blocks drug promotion
On 20 February it was announced that the Oktiabrskii district prosecutor in Samara had filed 70 writs demanding restrictions on access to websites promoting illegal drugs. Of these, 43 have been accepted by the local court and the rest are pending. Previously, on 5 February, the Kirov district prosecutor on Samara had successfully demanded restrictions on access to seven sites promoting drugs.

Cannabis sites blocked in Voronezh

On 13 February the Voronezh ISP Votek Mobile was ordered by a district court to limit access to the online cannabis seed distributor Semyanych, kacheli.my1.ru and ganzhaman.tut.by. Votek Mobile closed access to these sites.

And the rest

Move on fake diplomas site
On 8 February the Zhigulevsk city court in Samara backed the city prosecutor’s demand for restrictions on access to a website offering fake diplomas from various educational institutions. The court’s decision has not yet come into force.

Chechnya ban on Islamist TV channel
On 12 February the Leninskii district court of Grozny declared the internet TV channel Imam TV extremist. The site carries Musa Yandyrhanov’s video Napominaniie (Reminder) and talks by other members of illegal armed groups. The court said these materials promoted terrorism, contained incitement to violence against government representatives and incited hatred on religious grounds.

Block on sites giving bribery tips
On 12 February the Bashkortostan republic prosecutor announced that Sharanskii district prosecutor had identified several websites containing tips on giving bribes. The ISP Bashinformsvyaz was made to restrict access to these sites.

User group banned in St Petersburg
On 15 February it was reported that the Centralnyi district prosecutor in St Petersburg had ordered the social network VKontakte to block the user group Childfree. The prosecutor found that the group’s posts contained material violating the rights of minors. The VKontakte administration blocked the user group and deleted all its posts and blocked one user’s account.

ISP sued for posting bribery tips
On 4 February the Nefteyugansk interdistrict prosecutor identified sites containing bribery tips and filed a writ against the ISP Elektrosviazi demanding that it restrict access to these sites.

Orel blocks bribery sites
On 7 February it was reported that the Orel city prosecutor had identified several websites with tips on bribery and had been granted its demand for restrictions on access to the sites.

Post by designer added to banned list
On 5 February the popular designer Artemy Lebedev reported that the ISP Roskomnadzor had added his blog post containing an animated movie, Dumb Ways to Die, to the Register of Banned Sites. Roskomnadzor interpreted the video — a public service announcement by Metro Trains Melbourne in Australia — as promoting suicide.

Andrei Soldatov is a Russian journalist, and together with Irina Borogan, co-founder of the Agentura.Ru website. Last year, Soldatov and Borogan co-authored The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia’s Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB (PublicAffairs)

Why is access to freedom of expression important?

March 20th, 2013

Forced evictions of India’s marginalised Dalit community in Delhi have been carried out by the country’s government

All over the world today, both in developing and developed states, liberal democracies and less free societies, there are groups who struggle to gain full access to freedom of expression for a wide range of reasons including poverty, discrimination and cultural pressures. While attention is often, rightly, focused on the damaging impact discrimination or poverty can have on people’s lives, the impact such problems have on free expression is less rarely addressed.

We are not talking about the classic examples of challenges to freedom of expression where repressive regimes attempt to block, limit and inhibit across a population as a whole. Rather we are looking at cases where in both more and less free societies particular groups face greater barriers to free expression than the wider population. Such groups can often be denied an equal voice, and active and meaningful participation in political processes and wider society. Poverty, discrimination, legal barriers, cultural restrictions, religious customs and other barriers can directly or indirectly block the voices of the already marginalised. How much do these barriers and lack of access to freedom of expression matter? A lot – as the examples below tell us.

Why is access to freedom of expression important? Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It also underpins most other rights and allows them to flourish. The right to speak your mind freely on important issues in society, access information and hold the powers that be to account, plays a vital role in the healthy development process of any society.

The lack of access to freedom of expression is a problem that particularly affects the already marginalised – that is, minorities facing discrimination both in developed and developing countries, from LGBT people in African countries, to disabled people in Western Europe. While the scale of their struggles varies greatly, the principle is the same: within the context of their society, these groups face greater barriers to freedom of expression than the majority. If they are unable to communicate their ideas, views, worries and needs effectively, means they are often excluded from meaningful participation in society, and from the opportunity to better their own circumstances. In other words, discrimination is one of the core elements of unequal access to freedom of expression.

Access to free expression is also vital both to support the development process and as a development goal in its own right. The connection was perhaps most famously put forward by Amartya Sen in his widely cited book — Development as Freedom — where he argued that expansion of freedom is both the primary end and the principal means of development

It is striking to note the way in which cultural and religious customs are sometimes used to clamp down on various minorities’ rights to expression and assembly in many countries around the world. Human Rights Watch’s latest world report states that “traditional values are often deployed as an excuse to undermine human rights.” One example of this is the caste system still in place in countries including India, Nepal and Pakistan. This is culturally-based discrimination on a major, systematic scale. A significant proportion of the Dalits, (lower-caste people, or “untouchables”) are barred from participation in public life and have a limited say in policies that directly affect them. In May 2008, the Dalit community in the Nesda village in the state of Gujarat attempted to stage a protest after being excluded from the government’s development funds allocation, by refusing to fulfil their historic “caste duty” of disposing of dead animals. The dominant caste in the region promptly blocked the protest through a ‘social boycott’, forbidding any social or economic interaction between Dalits and non-Dalits. This is only one example of Dalit’s being barred from having a say in development matters directly relating to them. When they attempted to stage a peaceful protest, they were only further marginalised, and their weak economic, social and political position further cemented. It’s a vicious cycle.

Another major area where discrimination has a knock-on effect on freedom of expression, is with regards to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people across the globe. They are discriminated against for traditional, especially religious, reasons, with countries like Malaysia and Jamaica claiming that homosexuality is simply “not in our culture” when clamping down on LGBT civil rights. The right to express one’s sexuality is an aspect of the right to freedom of expression both in itself (as an expression of identity) but also because in countries where LGBT rights are not respected, the cultural expression of such rights is often also a political act. Cultural events organised by the LGBT community, such as pride parades, find themselves banned from exercising their right to freedom of assembly and expression, which happened last October in Serbia and Moldova. LGBT-themed art is also often times censored. One example reported by Index took place in Uganda, where a play about a gay man was banned, and its British producer, David Cecil, jailed and later deported. Countries also adopt laws that ban or circumscribe the discussion of homosexualty. In Russia, the Duma recently voted in favor of a draft law to ban “homosexual propaganda”. The amendment, passed by an overwhelming majority, prohibits the “propaganda of homosexuality” (in a practical sense, the discussion of homosexually) to protect children. The bill would in effect seriously curtail the right to freedom of expression of LGBT people.

Full access to freedom of expression is difficult to achieve in the absence of universal education and literacy. Around the world, illiteracy and inadequate (or non-existent) education hits the poorest hardest – both because education is often private, and because in poor countries where it is provided by the state, the standard of education can be low. Women and girls in the developing world are the groups most affected by illiteracy. There are a number of factors contributing to this, including higher levels of poverty among women, with culture and tradition also playing a significant part. There are still a number of societies around the world where it simply is not accepted that girls should receive education at all, and certainly not higher education. While the gender gap in education has been decreasing over time, in 2009, there were still around 35 million girls out of primary education, compared to 31 million boys. Lack of education is still the single biggest contributing factor to high and persistent levels of illiteracy — making it the most basic barrier to freedom of expression. It stops people from effectively participating in society, as it hinders them from being able to read, write and share written information, and thus fully engage with a range of issues or debates. Women make up the majority (64 per cent) of the nearly 800 million illiterate people in the world today. UNHCHR resolution 2003/42 identified this as a contributing factor to constraints on women’s rights to freedom of expression.

As well as the impact of poverty, discrimination and religious and cultural factors, governments and local authorities often put in place more formal mechanisms which result in significant restrictions on access to freedom of expression for minority groups. This can come in the form of restrictions on minority languages, such as Kurdish in Turkey, or barriers to political participation, such as the Bosnian constitutional ban on Jews and Roma running for high office.

Refugees are one of the hardest hit groups of people in terms of facing significant and basic restrictions on freedom of expression. A report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on the political rights of refugees stated that they, “…like other aliens, are entitled to the same freedom of expression, association and assembly as citizens.” However, a 2005 report investigating the state of Italian immigration detention centres showed that those detained in Italy were given few opportunities for communication with the outside world. Similarly, allegations of arbitrary deprivation of liberty in Greek detention centres are to be examined by independent experts selected by the UN Human Rights Council later this year. These are only a few examples of fundamental barriers on refugees’ access to fully express themselves. This, of course, cannot be separated from the wider discrimination as outlined above. Refugees constitute a group which often face prejudice and racism. Research from Cardiff University has for instance shown that they do not have the platform to counter the overwhelmingly negative way in which they are portrayed in the UK media. Refugees have universal rights like all other people around the world — states must recognise this and must act to tackle discrimination in all forms.

The barriers to free expression discussed here show why exercising our right to free expression is not as simple as living in a democratic society that broadly respects rights. Barriers that block or inhibit access to freedom of expression exist all over the world, in various forms and to varying degrees. Through being denied a voice, these groups are being denied a fundamental right, are facing barriers to their active participation in society, and, in many cases, are facing additional limits on their ability and opportunity to play a part in improving their own lives. Tackling the barriers from poverty to discrimination to laws that limit access to freedom of expression is vital.

What Russia censored in January

February 22nd, 2013

At the start of the experiment the white list included about 500,000 sites; by the end of the experiment,  scheduled for April, it is expected to include up to 1 million.

The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has stated that it does not support the experiment and considers it unnecessary in the light of existing legislation, in which Roskomnadzor, the Federal Agency for Supervision of Telecomms, Information Technologies and Mass Communications, plays a central role.

Communications minister Nikolai Nikiforov declared: “There is only one legitimate procedure for filtering of harmful content — the one operated by our subordinate agency Roskomnadzor. If operators impose restrictions, which are not covered by the law, they violate the rights of subscribers. Moreover, our country constitutes a single indivisible information space, and a specific region can not construct its citizens’ access to information under a different set of rules.”

But the League seems to have been unaffected by this comment. Its initiative was proudly presented at the Safe Internet Forum in Moscow on 8 February, attended by Russian MPs and high-placed officials, and mentioned by a Russian representative at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe conference Internet 2013 — Shaping policies to advance media freedom held in Vienna on 14 and 15 February.

Extremism

On 22 January the central district court of Volgograd accepted a demand from the Volgograd regional prosecutor’s office to recognise as extremist two websites that published books by the Turkish theologian Said Nursi listed on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. Once the court’s decision comes into force, the websites will also be added to the list.

It was reported on 23 January that the Ordzhonikidze district prosecutor’s office of Yekaterinburg had found a publicly accessible website featuring the lyrics of the song “Every Day, Under the Sign of Death” by the Norwegian black metal band Zyklon B and the anti-Semitic tract Poisonous Fish: Zionists and Freemasons in Japan by A Klimov, recognised by courts as extremist. The site also included several other extremist items. The prosecutor’s office filed 15 writs against the ISP AKADO-Yekaterinburg, demanding that access to this website be limited. The proceedings came to an end because of the ISP’s voluntary compliance with the prosecutor’s demands.

The Arkhangelsk regional prosecutor’s office reported on 24 January that its audit of ISPs to check compliance with anti-extremist legislation had found a publicly accessible electronic translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ tract What Does the Bible Really Teach?, declared extremist by the Rostov regional court. The prosecutor filed a writ against the regional branch of the ISP VimpelCom, demanding that access to this material be blocked. The ISP voluntarily complied with the request, and the case was dropped.

On 29 January it was reported that the Dolzhansky district prosecutor’s office in the Orel region had found that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom was providing access to a website listed on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, and to another that contained instructions on making explosives and drugs. The prosecutor’s office filed a writ demanding that access to the identified sites be restricted. Despite the ISP’s argument that the website’s owner should be responsible for monitoring content, the district court granted the prosecutor’s request.

Gambling and online casinos

It was reported on 18 January that the Voronezh city prosecutor’s office had identified a website that could be used for online gambling. It filed writs against several ISPs, including MegaFon, Tele2, MTS and Kodotel, demanding that they limit access. The court ordered the ISPs to comply.

The Omsk regional prosecutor’s office announced on 22 January that after an audit of ISPs’ compliance with the gambling ban, the central district prosecutor’s office in Omsk had sent several demands to ISPs that access to gambling sites be restricted.

On 22 January it was announced that the Chernovsky district prosecutor’s office in Chita had identified more than a dozen publicly accessible websites that provided online casino services. The prosecutor filed a writ with the district court demanding that the local ISP limit access to the identified websites. The ISP voluntarily blocked the sites.

The prosecutor’s office in Ivanovo reported on 24 January that the Teykovo interdistrict prosecutor’s office had filed five writs against the ISP Gorizont for providing access to gambling websites. The prosecutor’s office demanded that access to these sites be blocked.

On 1 February the Tula regional prosecutor’s office announced that the prosecutor’s office of the Sovetsky district had reviewed implementation of legislation on gambling. Four writs were filed against the ISP Altair Tula demanding restrictions of access to online casinos, which were accepted by the Sovetsky district court.

On 1 February the Pskov regional prosecutor’s office announced that it had decided that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom was responsible for blocking access to gambling sites.

Schools, students, and a beauty salon

The Tambov regional prosecutor’s office announced on 9 January that the Oktiabrsky district prosecutor’s office had found a computer located in a beauty salon that allowed access to websites containing extremist material. The salon’s ISP, Lanta, has been instructed to cease the violations and bring disciplinary charges against those responsible.

On 14 January it was announced that the Komi Republic had launched a content filtering system for computers that provide students with access to the internet. The system covers 285 educational institutions of the republic and 150 computers used for home-schooling of children with disabilities. The goal is to prevent schoolchildren from accessing online information that “is incompatible with the objectives of education and training”. Lists of acceptable and unacceptable sites will be maintained jointly by the republic’s government and staff of educational institutions. The content filtering system is to be extended to cover all the Komi Republic schools.

It was reported on 15 January that bailiffs had ordered the management of four schools in the Kurumkansky district of Buryatia (in Kurumkan, Baragkhan and Sakhuli) to comply with court decisions on limiting students’ access to banned sites. Content filters have been installed.

On 18 January it was reported that the ministry of education and science of the Volgograd region had signed an agreement with the local branch of Rostelecom for the ISP provider to assume responsibility for filtering students’ access to websites containing dangerous material. Rostelecom provides internet access for 85 per cent of the region’s schools.

The Moscow regional prosecutor’s office announced on 18 January that the Yegoryevsk town prosecutor’s office had conducted an audit of compliance with legislation by local schools. The audit had established that in three schools in the district installed filters did not provide sufficient protection from extremist material. The prosecutor’s office has demanded that the head of the local administration ends the violations and brings disciplinary charges against those responsible.

On 21 January it was announced that the department of information technology of the Moscow city government will provide all city schools with wireless internet access by the end of February. The company that won the contract for implementation of this programme, MGTS, must also provide content filtering in order to protect students from extremist, pornographic and other harmful material.

Drugs

It was announced on 8 January that the Pervomaisky district court of Kirov had accepted the demand of the Leninsky district prosecutor’s office that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom block access to a website that contained information about cultivation of hemp and producing a psychoactive substance from it.

On 10 January it was announced that the Simonovsky interdistrict prosecutor’s office in Moscow had identified several websites that contained information on illegal drug distribution. The prosecutor’s office filed three writs against the ISP AMT Group Telecom, demanding that access to these websites be restricted by adding an IP-address filter on its router. The Khamovniki district court dismissed them on the grounds that restricting access to the sites would also deprive users of access to other sites. The prosecutor’s office appealed the decision. The Moscow city court subsequently reversed the district court’s judgment and ordered the provider to restrict access to the sites.

On 14 January the Kirov regional prosecutor’s office reported that a court had granted a request by the Oktyabrsky district prosecutor’s office to order the ISP Rostelecom to limit access to a website containing information about drugs and psychotropic substances. The court’s decision has not yet come into force.

On 16 January it was reported that the Berezovsky district prosecutor’s office in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous area (also known as Yugra) had found several publicly accessible sites that promoted illegal drugs or contained extremist or pornographic material. The prosecutor’s office filed a writ against the ISP Rostelecom demanding that access to these websites be blocked.

It was reported on 22 January that the Nizhny Novgorod regional prosecutor’s office had identified several websites that promote distribution of illegal substances. The prosecutors of Nizhegorodsky and Sovetsky districts of Nizhny Novgorod and the city prosecutor’s offices of Arzamas and Vyksun filed writs against multiple service providers, demanding that the identified websites be blocked.

On 3 January Roskomnadzor added the blog kazantripreport, hosted on the portal lj.rossia.org, to its register of banned sites. The creator of lj.rossia.org had agreed to remove the page on 2 January, having discussed doing so since 28 December. The notification from Roskomnadzor arrived a week after the page had been removed. The management of lj.rossia.org accused the user kazantripreport of spamming and using the resource for commercial purposes. In addition, the blog had published reviews of an illegal substance, as well as Russian translations of Philip Greave’s book The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct.

On 6 January Roskomnadzor notified the online encyclopedia lurkmore.to that the address for one of its articles had been included on the register of banned sites. The article discussed various ways to commit suicide in a satirical manner. The management of lurkmore.to has since removed the article and intends to appeal the ban in court. Roskomnadzor had taken similar measures against the online encyclopedia on previous occasions.

On 10 January Roskomnadzor notified Ilya Dronov, the manager of SUP Media’s LiveJournal Russia project, that the blog of Rustem Agadamov had been added to the register of banned sites. Propaganda for suicide was cited as the reason for the ban. The post in question was a photo report, dated March 2012. It depicted an attempted self-immolation of a Tibetan independence activist in protest against the visit of the president of China. Access to the page has been restricted. The administration of LiveJournal Russia intends to appeal Roskomnadzor’s decision.

Index Index – International free speech round up 13/02/13

February 13th, 2013

YouTube filed lawsuit against the Russian government on 11 February, to contest its latest cybercrime law to censor websites deemed harmful to children. The case was filed after Russian regulators decided to block a joke YouTube video entitled ”Video lesson on how to cut your veins =D,” which showed viewers how to fake slitting their wrists. Rospotrebnadzor, the federal service for consumer rights, said the video glorified suicide and was therefore illegal under the law enacted in November, which has been criticised for being vague and overtly broad. YouTube owners Google proceeded to restrict access to the video in Russia before the lawsuit was filed. In the first legal challenge made against the law, YouTube objected to the ruling in a statement released on 12 February, saying that the law should not extend to limiting access on videos uploaded for entertainment purposes.

An Indian soldier stands alert in Srinagar, Kashmir during a curfew to curb protest over the hanging of Afzal Guru

A politician in Azerbaijan has offered a cash reward to any person who finds and cuts of the ear of an author who wrote a book about the conciliation of Azeris and Armenians, it was reported on 12 February. Akram Aylisli’s book Stone Dreams has stirred up controversy for referencing Azerbaijan’s violence against Armenians during riots preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union. The party of Hafiz Haciyev, the head of a pro-government political group in Azerbaijan have offered 10,000 manat (£8,000) for the ear of the writer, as part of a sustained hate campaign against Haciyev. He has been expelled from the Union of Writers, had his presidential pension revoked and his wife and son have lost their jobs. Protestors around the country have burned books and effigies of Haciyev. As Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev approaches re-election later this year, the sustained negativity projected onto Haciyev is said to be a facade to hide the government’s internal issues amidst growing unrest.

Following protests in Kashmir over the execution of a man convicted of terrorism on 9 February, Kashmir’s internet and news outlets have been suppressed, and the entire Kashmir valley subjected to a strict curfew. Television channels and mobile internet were suspended immediately after Afzal Guru was hanged on 9 February. Local newspapers were forced to cease reporting the following day without warning — and have yet to be published since. Only the government, using state run service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, has access to the internet. Some residential districts of Srinagar reported to receive some TV news channels on 10 February, but privately-owned channels had to suspend news services at the request of the government. Afzal Guru’s execution in a New Delhi prison on 9 February prompted protests in three areas of India administered Kashmir, surrounding claims the men accused were given an unfair trial. Guru was sentenced to death for helping to plot a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that left 14 people dead.

In Somalia, a journalist has been detained without charge for defending press freedom, after a woman who claimed she was raped and the journalist who interviewed her were imprisoned. Daud Abdi Daud remains in custody since 5 February, after he spoke out in a Mogadishu court against the one year jail sentence given to Abdiaziz Abdinuur and the alleged rape victim on 5 February. Daud Abdi said journalists should be able to interview who they wish, saying he would make attempts to interview the president’s wife, causing the police to arrest him. Daud Abdi was later transferred from police custody into Mogadishu Central Prison. On 6 February, the attorney general ordered his continued detention at the Police’s Central Investigation Department.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s decision to pursue a libel case using public funding has been criticised. The council’s chief executive Mark James appeared in London’s Royal Courts of Justice today (13 February) where he and blogger Jacqui Thompson are suing each other for defamation following a series of comments posted online. James’s costs were indemnified by the council after a controversial decision in 2008, allowing public money to be used to fund libel lawsuits. Carmarthenshire County Council is believed to be the only authority to allow this in the UK, and the Welsh Assembly has questioned its legality, after an order they made in 2006 forbade local authorities from offering indemnities in libel cases. Carmarthenshire County Council said they had relied upon section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972, rather than the 2006 law. The case likely to cost a six or seven figure sum, according to reports.