Anti-extremist legislation has existed in Russia since 2002. At the moment it continues to expand. There are more and more people convicted of extremist activities in the country. In this regard, many Russians even believe that anyone can be brought under this law for anything. But of course, this point of view is wrong - not for anyone and for anything.
A variety of activities can be equated with extremist in Russia today. Their detailed list is very wide. Extremism in Russia is also false accusations of persons holding public office, violation of the rights of citizens depending on their nationality, religion, etc., obstruction of the exercise of voting rights, etc. People who are afraid of criminal prosecution should familiarize themselves with the full list, by reading the relevant law. It makes no sense to present it in full in such a small article. Therefore, further we will consider
What is most often prosecuted for under the law on extremism
Most often, citizens of the Russian Federation are subject to criminal prosecution, according to this law, for
- incitement to hatred and discord;
- calls for extremist activity;
- justification of terrorism;
- rehabilitation of Nazism;
- insulting the feelings of believers;
- demonstration of prohibited symbols;
- distribution of extremist materials.
Combating extremism: inciting hatred and discord
A Russian citizen can be prosecuted under this item for statements against groups of people:
- defined on the basis of ethnicity;
- religion.
Other unifying features are indicated in the Criminal Code, but in practice they are rarely used. In any case, enmity should be aroused towards people, not towards organizations.
Calls for extremist activity
People who do not want to be prosecuted should not make public hints of desirability in the first place:
- coup;
- terrorism or separatism;
- discrimination against any groups;
- creating forceful interference with the authorities, etc.
Extremism in Russia: Justifying Terrorism
In this case, the law is not about the pedagogical or moral justification of the terrorists themselves. They can only be punished directly for affirming the correctness and desirability of this type of pressure on society and the state.
Rehabilitation of Nazism
In this case, you should avoid:
- justifying the mass crimes committed by the Nazis during the World War;
- spreading false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War;
- desecration of symbols associated with Russian military history, or memorable dates.
To be polite, for example, on the same Internet, is not bad. And in this case it is also safe.
Insulting the feelings of believers
Religious extremism - it is this point that causes the greatest rejection in Russian society. The fact is that the very concept of “feelings of believers” in the legislation is defined vaguely. In other words, it is up to the judges themselves to decide what is religious and what non-religious feelings of believers. Which, of course, in practice means complete arbitrariness and chaos.
However, you should not be too afraid of being held accountable for insulting the feelings of believers. Extremism in Russia in this case is, first of all, just rude statements about the faith of the interlocutor or religious group.
Demonstration of prohibited symbols
In this case, they can even be punished simply for a publicly exposed picture or photo (including in the absence of any "extremist" intention). So you shouldn't post, for example, symbols on social networks:
- Nazi;
- similar to the Nazi (somewhat similar to the swastika);
- terrorist or extremist organizations banned on the territory of the Russian Federation;
- organizations that collaborated with the Nazis during the World War.
Distribution of extremist materials
The list of such materials is officially published on the website of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the SOVA Center. It contains more than 3 thousand items and it is, of course, impossible to memorize all of them. In addition, a search on the Internet does not always help to find out whether the material is prohibited or not. But nevertheless, this does not exempt citizens from responsibility for the distribution.
Therefore, in order not to fall under the law, the following precautions should be observed:
- avoid distribution of materials already banned in the territory of the Russian Federation by organizations;
- do not post materials on the network that cause any doubts from the user personally, without a thorough check for prohibited.
In any case, the punishment for such extremism in Russia is not very serious (a small fine or 15 days of arrest).
Internet pitfalls
Some netizens believe that if they do not post publicly extremist pictures or make such statements, they will not be punished. However, there are several pitfalls in this regard on the Internet that are worth knowing about.
From the point of view of Russian legislation, manifestations of extremism are, among other things, and:
- reposts of extremist materials, even though the statement in this case belongs to a third party;
- likes (for example, under a prohibited video).
Any statement or picture that is not password protected is considered public. Also, Internet users can be punished for material posted on the Web for a long time. Of course, the law has no retroactive effect. But all sorts of materials posted on the Internet prior to their recognition as extremist must be removed by the user.
