Latest Russian Censorship Move: Banning Internet Memes Using Photos Of Celebrities

from the just-putin-it-out-there dept

Mon, Apr 13th 2015 3:56am — Glyn Moody

For a while now, Techdirt has been tracking the continuing efforts of the Russian government to rein in the Internet, at the cost of squeezing much of the life out of it. As an article on Global Voices reports, this has now reached ridiculous levels:

Russian censors have determined that one of the most popular forms of Internet meme is illegal. According to Roskomnadzor, the Kremlin's media watchdog, it's now against the law to use celebrities' photographs in a meme, "when the image has nothing to do with the celebrity's personality."

Roskomnadzor's statement is the result of a decision by a court in Moscow, which decided that a particular photo meme violated the privacy of Russian singer Valeri Syutkin -- the Global Voices post has the fascinating details. Although no new law is involved, Roskomnadzor's power is such that it is able to make these kinds of rule changes -- and enforce them. Along with a ban on the use of celebrities' photographs in what are termed "image macros," the new ruling also forbids the creation of parody accounts or sites (original in Russian.) The key problem with the image macro part is the following: Roskomnadzor's vague new policy threatens to do more than crack down on potentially defamatory juxtaposition, however. By saying it is illegal to add celebrities' images to memes that "have nothing to do with the celebrity's personality," the Kremlin could be opening the door to banning a whole genre of absurdist online humor.
Even if the policy is not rigorously enforced, it could have a chilling effect on the Russian online space, already under pressure because of previous censorship moves. And that's probably precisely what the authorities are seeking to achieve here. After all, when it comes to Russian celebrities' photographs with witty captions, what name springs to mind?

Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: censorship, free speech, memes, russia

21 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 4:08am

Darn...and I just wanted to use Putin in a nive meme!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 4:10am

Sadimir Putin is a particularly poignaimt one. Poor Vlad the Internet impaler.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 4:13am

Yeah well I, of course, meant poignant.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 4:16am

He'll get out of the internet what he Putin? #reallybadpuns
Now all we need is a picture of him flying on a eagle...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 4:28am

And there goes the Putin meme flood.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 4:46am

Might as well shut down the internet over there.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 5:05am

"it's now against the law to use celebrities' photographs in a meme"

You mean like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3z841UJiVk
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Violynne (profile), 13 Apr 2015 @ 5:05am

Agree with AC: might as well turn off the internet.

Though, one thing baffles me: when did Russia turn into a communist state again?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
avideogameplayer, 13 Apr 2015 @ 5:09am

In Soviet Russia, the Internet censors you...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 6:24am

This should be interesting when it comes to advertising and television commercials. The actor or celebrity now has to be themselves.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 6:36am

Re:
They are not particularly communistic. It is more fascistic in nature. The policies and debate-climate around muslims in Russia and the policies of protecting russians living abroad are disturbing and generally the political situation we see there is close to the ideals behind national syndicalism, which later developed into fascism.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Robert T. Best (profile), 13 Apr 2015 @ 6:58am

This makes sad Keanu very sad indeed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 10:10am

IT went from a communist state to a neo fascist state.,
where most of the states assets were sold off cheap,
drilling rights etc were sold off to cronys,or oligarchs very cheap .
OF course even if you are rich if you criticise the government you,ll be arrested or have your assets seized from you.
A Communist state at least holds on to land , state assets
for the people ,like in cuba ,

where most land is owned by the government .

OR like china you are free to make money ,
as long as you dont get involved in politics or anti
goverment activity.
Most russians don,t know whats going on,as most tv stations ,big newspaper,s are government controlled .
AS the economy was booming until 2 years ago ,
most people were not too concerned about government corruption and bribery .
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 13 Apr 2015 @ 10:46am

Re:
"Most russians don,t know whats going on,as most tv stations ,big newspaper,s are government controlled ."

Just like the US, then.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 10:47am

... That is dumb. I'd think Russia would want to be able to do this since making fun of Obama is so damn easy this way.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Uriel-238 (profile), 13 Apr 2015 @ 12:51pm

So...are they going to block imports?
Putin is really big right now on /b/ that fecund spawning pit from which most memes crawl, nascent and muclulant.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 2:23pm

Sad keanu seems appropriate for this news.
Also, is Putin riding a bear or carrying a horse in line with his personality?.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2015 @ 6:41pm

Even if the policy is not rigorously enforced...
Selective enforcement: the favorite of governments around the world.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
mr naijaname, 27 Apr 2015 @ 5:16pm

A Communist state at least holds on to land , state
assets
for the people ,like in cuba ,
where most land is owned by the government .
OR like china you are free to make money ,
as long as you dont get involved in politics or anti
goverment activity.
Most russians don,t know whats going on,as most
tv stations ,big newspaper,s are government
controlled . Celebrities Sadimir Putin is a particularly poignaimt one. Poor
Vlad the Internet impaler.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Memes, 28 Apr 2015 @ 12:57pm

Shut down the internet over there... Most russians don,t know whats going on,as most
tv stations ,big newspaper,s are government
controlled.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Celebrity, 4 May 2015 @ 3:16am

.
Great post. I think it is good for visitors. I like this kind of website where has a lot of real information, It proved to be very helpful. Thanks for admin, His creativity, Presentation, Information and all is good.
[ link to this | view in thread ]