26 April 2008
Rights Eroding in Russia
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: World Affairs .
The language in the Russian bill to limit free speech reminded me of the blog yesterday on the Chinese lawsuit. The leaders in these countries have set themselves up as demagogs and will not tolerate criticism. They remind me of overly sensitive bullies in grade school.Offending the dignity of political rulers was not tolerated in the pre-Constitutional world and it looks as though that intolerance is making a come back. We need to watch very closely here in America and highlight instances where free speech is threatened.
Russian lawmakers support tighter media rules on libel
Friday April 25, 3:47 pm ET
MOSCOW (AP) –
Russia’s lower house of parliament voted Friday to widen the definition of slander and libel and give regulators the authority to shut down media outlets found guilty of publishing such material.The legislation, passed by the State Duma 339-1, is the latest attempt by the government to squeeze the country’s increasingly embattled news media.
The bill allows authorities to suspend and close down media outlets for libel and slander — punishment that is identical to that for news media found to be promoting terrorism, extremism and racial hatred.
It also expands the definition of slander and libel to “dissemination of deliberately false information damaging individual honor and dignity.”
The legislation will be considered in two more readings before heading to the upper house of parliament, where approval is likely, and then goes to President Vladimir Putin for signing.
Putin has presided over a steady rollback of post-Soviet media and political freedoms. Major national television networks have come under the control of the Kremlin or its allies, and Russia’s print media have also experienced growing official pressure.
The bill’s passage comes just days after a scandal involving a tabloid newspaper that had reported that Putin had divorced his wife and planned to marry a champion gymnast.
5 Comments so far...
russia » Blog Archive » Rights Eroding in Russia Says:
26 April 2008 at 4:06 am.
[…] admin wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptRussia’s lower house of parliament voted Friday to widen the definition of slander and libel and give regulators the authority to shut down media outlets found guilty of publishing such material.The legislation, passed by the State Duma … […]
Mac Says:
26 April 2008 at 10:21 am.
Anyone who thinks Russia is our friend is going to be in for a rude awakening when the bear decides to show its true colors. We are getting a sneak peak lately.
Stumpy Says:
26 April 2008 at 10:38 am.
Could y’all do me a favor an make that scary man go away? He is even scarin Cat and I thought nothin scared Cat. I think I jist peed myself.
Jesse Says:
26 April 2008 at 2:54 pm.
Without freedom of the press it is just a matter of time before the other rights go. Hardliners have won the day in Russia.
T. Fan Says:
26 April 2008 at 6:39 pm.
This guy has such a big ego he likes to be photographed doing outdoor activities with his shirt off. He is absolutely corrupted. Absolute power does that and now between him and the Chinese, our government is going to be hard pressed to stand up for our rights of international free speech.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.