Russians on trial for sharing memes

[Independent voter]

We have some Russians on MMO-C, they'd better be careful of what they post.

What the Russian government is doing is creating fear, you never know what might get you thrown in jail so you never post anything even slightly controversial. There's no First Amendment in Russia.







https://www.yahoo.com/news/russians-...015544008.html

Moscow (AFP) - In 2015, Eduard Nikitin shared a joke on social media about Russia's bleak future. Three years later he is facing trial on extremism charges over this and one other meme.

The case against the 42-year-old is part of a wider trend that has seen Russian authorities bring charges against people for seemingly innocuous, humorous posts in increasing numbers.

Lawyers say the Kremlin is trying to force people to think twice before sharing opinions online -- one of the last remaining spaces where the opposition is relatively free to organise.

"It turns out that for a harmless joke, anybody who doesn't agree with our country's leadership can be prosecuted," Nikitin's lawyer Maxim Kamakin told AFP after a preliminary hearing in Saint Petersburg on August 20.

"It seems that in our country only optimists have the right to exist."

In one of the incriminating posts from Nikitin, who is disabled and currently unemployed, a father crudely tells his son that nothing will be getting better in Russia any time soon.

The other features a drawing of a "vatnik" -- a padded coat popular during the Soviet period that is also slang for uneducated Russians who uncritically follow those in authority.

The "absurd" case has seen Nikitin's bank account blocked, his computer briefly confiscated and left the activist unable to participate in any opposition campaigns, according to his lawyer.

The vaguely worded charges he faces -- inciting hatred or degradation of human dignity -- carry a maximum six-year jail term, though most convictions lead to a shorter sentence, fine or community service.

Such cases are not new but several high-profile investigations, along with an intervention from the operator of Russia's largest social networks, has dragged the issue back into the spotlight over the last month.

- 'Jon Snow is risen' -

In the Siberian Altai region, legal proceedings were opened more than a year ago against Daniil Markin, a 19-year-old film student who shared memes including a picture of Jon Snow, a character from the Game of Thrones HBO TV series.

Under the image was written "Jon Snow is risen -- Truly he is risen!", a play on the Orthodox Easter greeting, which has led to the teenager's ongoing prosecution on the grounds of religious hatred.

Maria Motuznaya, a 23-year-old who like Markin comes from the Altai city of Barnaul, faces separate extremism charges for images saved on the VKontakte network -- Russia's Facebook equivalent, which rights groups say cooperates with security services.

One of them, featuring apparently African children holding out empty bowls, carries the caption: "black humour is like food -- not everybody gets it".

Markin and Motuznaya have both said they were pressured by police into signing confessions.

"Too often the actions of law enforcement agencies clearly do not correspond to the potential threat and their reaction to posts or memes are groundlessly harsh," Mail.ru, which owns VKontakte, said earlier in the month.

The company, itself owned by the Kremlin-friendly billionaire Alisher Usmanov, called for a change in the law and an "amnesty" for "those who were unjustly convicted and serving time on such charges".

The Russian communications ministry has also supported a relaxation of the law.

According to the independent rights group Agora, 43 people were given prison terms for internet posts in Russia in 2017, up from 32 the previous year.

- Authorities 'going crazy' -

Sarkis Darbinyan, a Russian digital rights lawyer, welcomed the request by Mail.ru as a step in the right direction but said he did not expect to see any immediate changes.

"The main idea behind these policies is to create fear amongst internet users. The aim is to create the impression that authorities are following every network user," he told AFP.

"Many users are already scared of sharing their own thoughts, they're self-censoring their content, they're deleting what they shared earlier. That reduces the level of free speech on social networking sites in Russia."

Dmitry, a 21-year-old from the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, is one internet user who has changed his behaviour because of the steady drip of news of arrests.

"I've just been deleting a lot of my photos and posts from my wall that have been building up there for the last couple of years," he said of his VKontakte profile.

He told AFP he would refrain from posting any thoughts on politics to the network, keeping these instead for other channels.

"Now there's a definite fear -- the state's going crazy and you can be arrested just for 'liking' something. I don't want to get caught up in all that, I want to be safe."

[The Stormbringer]

How long until Russia starts censoring and shutting things down as hard as China at this rate?

[Daedius]

Putin is an incredibly corrupt cunt that has remained in power for a long time, what else would one expect?

[nymphetsss]

Most of those examples seem like a Liberals wet dream

bash religion go to jail ( I get that its okay to bash Christianity to them but same difference)
share a slightly racist meme , off to jail

[Darknessvamp]

Most of those examples seem like a Liberals wet dream

bash religion go to jail ( I get that its okay to bash Christianity to them but same difference)
share a slightly racist meme , off to jail

Well in a sense this already happened in the UK with the whole thing with Count Dankula and his nazi pug joke video. I thought we were meant to be better than Russia.

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

Well in a sense this already happened in the UK with the whole thing with Count Dankula and his nazi pug joke video. I thought we were meant to be better than Russia.

Count Dankula isn't in jail and had to pay a fine while Russian get murder for going against the government but nice deflect.

- - - Updated - - -

Most of those examples seem like a Liberals wet dream

bash religion go to jail ( I get that its okay to bash Christianity to them but same difference)
share a slightly racist meme , off to jail

Wait liberals don't care about religion... They just constantly have to remind conservatives that we have freedom of religion. The party that suppose to respect the constitution needs constant reminders #sad.

[united]

Most of those examples seem like a Liberals wet dream

bash religion go to jail ( I get that its okay to bash Christianity to them but same difference)
share a slightly racist meme , off to jail

what’s it like living with a victim complex?

[Elba]

Good. Memes should be illegal everywhere.

[Darknessvamp]

Count Dankula isn't in jail and had to pay a fine while Russian get murder for going against the government but nice deflect.

What deflect? He got taken to court by the government over a joke on the charges of breaking the communications act under the pretense he was promoting antisemitism and inciting hate speech, exactly the sort of thing that is happening to the people in the article. Just because it got called what it was, a sham and embarrassment of a court case, and the judge was ordered to get rid of the threat of a prison sentence and instead lowered it to a fine because he wanted to save face doesn't erase that it happened. I also like how you're deflecting from the actual article by referencing journalists who are allegedly murdered by the russian government and has absolutely no relation to my original point.

[Elba]

What deflect? He got taken to court by the government over a joke on the charges of breaking the communications act under the pretense he was promoting antisemitism and inciting hate speech, exactly the sort of thing that is happening to the people in the article. Just because it got called what it was, a sham and embarrassment of a court case, and the judge was ordered to get rid of the threat of a prison sentence and instead lowered it to a fine because he wanted to save face doesn't erase that it happened. I also like how you're deflecting from the actual article by referencing journalists who are allegedly murdered by the russian government and has absolutely no relation to my original point.

Dankula should be in prison for his stupid name alone. But he is also a Nazi who now joined a Nazi party. So double fuck him. Lock his antisemitic ass up.

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

What deflect? He got taken to court by the government over a joke on the charges of breaking the communications act under the pretense he was promoting antisemitism and inciting hate speech, exactly the sort of thing that is happening to the people in the article. Just because it got called what it was, a sham and embarrassment of a court case, and the judge was ordered to get rid of the threat of a prison sentence and instead lowered it to a fine because he wanted to save face doesn't erase that it happened. I also like how you're deflecting from the actual article by referencing journalists who are allegedly murdered by the russian government and has absolutely no relation to my original point.

but its not comparable to killing poltical opposition and posioning people abroad? You picked a dumb example and our now trying to double down which makes me question your intelligence. Russia is worse in everyway and trying to go but but one trial is fucking stupid... I think Count Dankula stuff was wrong but Russia is so much worse. You can critize it without making false comparisons.

This is another problem I have with your right wingers and woke people is that poland and Russia practice all the things you hate but you only criticize certain countries. You'll comment in the threads about the us or eu even if your not from there but won't say a single bad thing about the other two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern...ship_in_Russia

[Shalcker]

but its not comparable to killing poltical opposition and posioning people abroad?

What that has to do with topic at hand - people getting charged for sharing memes? :/

You picked a dumb example and our now trying to double down which makes me question your intelligence. Russia is worse in everyway and trying to go but but one trial is fucking stupid... I think Count Dankula stuff was wrong but Russia is so much worse. You can critize it without making false comparisons.

Well, if you want to compare irrelevant facts then how about Iraq and Libya? US is definitely much worse; at least Russia limits damage to a few token Russians, not hundreds of thousands/millions like US with extra multi-million refugee flows...

[Independent voter]

Illegal image that will get you jail time.

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

What that has to do with topic at hand - people getting charged for sharing memes? :/

Well, if you want to compare irrelevant facts then how about Iraq and Libya? US is definitely much worse; at least Russia limits damage to a few token Russians, not hundreds of thousands/millions like US with extra multi-million refugee flows...

He tried to deflect to the eu in a thread about russia...

[Shalcker]

He tried to deflect to the eu in a thread about russia...

That's because "being on trial for memes" is not strictly Russian phenomena.

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

That's because "being on trial for memes" is not strictly Russian phenomena.

Nazi salutes aren't a meme they're considered hate speech and bringing up the eu on a thread about Russia is off totic... You gonna call him out like me or shill?

[Deleted]

Sounds like bs msm propaganda

Meanwhile...

[Dr Assbandit]

Just as I clicked on this topic I already knew Shalcker would be further down with whatabotisms and damage control and just like clockwork he's there .

[PACOX]

Someone has step up and put down shitty memes.

[Haven]

Meanwhile in the citadel of freedom:
NASCAR racer loses sponsorship because his father said an "N-word" in an interview in 80s, before his son was even born. Conor Daily, son of a public enemy. James Gunn, director of "Guardians of the Galaxy", got fired over a joke on Twitter he made years ago.

Morale of the story: it doesn't matter where you live - if someone wants to ruin your life, social media and social pressure are #1 weapons. Do not use social media. Keep your opinions and your wits to yourself. We live in an era when nothing is forgotten and everything is offensive.