Media freedom in Russia#Coverage on Ukraine

{{main|History of Russian journalism}}

The Russian constitution provides for freedom of speech and press; however, government application of law, bureaucratic regulation, and politically motivated criminal investigations have forced the press to exercise self-censorship constraining its coverage of certain controversial issues, resulting in infringements of these rights.{{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/15/hollywoods-child-44-pulled-in-russia-after-falling-foul-of-culture-ministry|title = Hollywood's Child 44 pulled in Russia after falling foul of culture ministry|work = The Guardian|date = 15 April 2015|access-date = 15 April 2015|author = Shaun Walker|archive-date = 16 April 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150416025050/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/15/hollywoods-child-44-pulled-in-russia-after-falling-foul-of-culture-ministry|url-status = live}}[http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html Index of Reporters without Borders] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022183400/http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html |date=22 October 2009 }}, 2009 According to Human Rights Watch, the Russian government exerts control over civil society through selective implementation of the law, restriction, and censure.

Russia's ombudsman, named officially the Commissioner for Human Rights, is appointed for a certain term by the Parliament. The ombudsman cannot be dismissed before the end of his term, and is not subordinate to any body of power, including the president or the government. Russia's 83 administrative regions have the right to elect a local ombudsman whose authority is limited to that region. Less than half have done so.[http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=30107 St. Petersburg Times: Controversial Ombudsman Mikhailov Dismissed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301114815/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=30107 |date=1 March 2014 }}, 23 October 2009.

Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin reported in 2006 that claims declaring that freedom of speech is non-existent in Russia would be an exaggeration, the constitutional right for speech freedom is basically observed, and there is no institutionalized censorship. Because the ombudsman has refused to acknowledge the barriers to free speech, journalists and publishers seldom appeal to the commissioner to protest restrictions of their right of seeking, receiving, transferring, publishing or distributing information. Disguised restrictions also exist to a considerable degree, mostly in the form of economic pressure on mass media by the authorities and loyal business. The so-called "self-censorship" which induces journalists to refrain from disseminating information which, in their opinion, may not please the authorities, is also widespread. In many places, the right to praise the authorities is ensured, while criticism is silenced.{{cite web|format=DOC|first=Vladimir|last=Lukin|url=http://www.ombudsman.gov.ru/doc/ezdoc/06text_eng.doc|title=Report Of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation For the Year 2006|work=Official Website of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation|date=9 February 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305194539/http://ombudsman.gov.ru/doc/ezdoc/06text_eng.doc|archive-date=5 March 2009}}

In his 2008 annual report, Vladimir Lukin wrote that it is important to have a comprehensive legal interpretation of terms that may limit the freedom of thought and word.[http://www.ombudsman.gov.ru/doc/ezdoc/08.shtml#f 2008 Report of Russian Ombudsman] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007010121/http://www.ombudsman.gov.ru/doc/ezdoc/08.shtml |date=7 October 2009 }} {{in lang|ru}} He spoke against the election legislation amendment, calling it "a practical prohibition" of contesting candidates' criticism and "obviously excessive." Lukin further criticized the Law on combating extremist activities, noting that extremism and dissent must be strictly legally divided and are not defined in the law.

{{Main|List of journalists killed in Russia}}

The dangers to journalists in Russia have been well known since the early 1990s but concern at the number of unsolved killings soared after Anna Politkovskaya's murder in Moscow on 7 October 2006. While international monitors spoke of several dozen deaths, some sources within Russia talked of over two hundred fatalities.{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0712/09/se.02.html|title=Czar Putin|work=CNN|publisher=Transcripts.cnn.com|date=9 December 2007|access-date=18 October 2014|archive-date=29 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429010252/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0712/09/se.02.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news | author = Azhgikhina, Nadezhda Ilinichna | title = 10 Years on From the Murder of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya, What Has Changed? | url = https://www.newsweek.com/russia-anna-politkovskaya-murder-death-investigation-frozen-507411 | work = Newsweek | date = 7 November 2016 | access-date = 5 March 2018 | author-link = :ru:Ажгихина, Надежда Ильинична | archive-date = 12 June 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190612165950/https://www.newsweek.com/russia-anna-politkovskaya-murder-death-investigation-frozen-507411 | url-status = live }}

Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty in Russia is observed on 15 December every year.

Since the early 1990s, a number of Russian reporters who have covered the situation in Chechnya, contentious stories on organized crime, state and administrative officials, and large businesses have been killed. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, since 1992, 50 journalists have been murdered for their professional activity in Russia (which made it the third deadliest country for journalists in the 1992–2006 period):[http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/europe/russia10oct06na.html CPJ calls on Putin to take responsibility for Politkovskaya murder probe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209223703/http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/europe/russia10oct06na.html |date=9 February 2007 }} - Committee to Protect Journalists 30 journalists from 1993 to 2000, and 20 journalists since 2000.[http://www.cpj.org/attacks05/europe05/russia_05.html "Attacks on the Press 2005: Russia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713150628/http://www.cpj.org/attacks05/europe05/russia_05.html |date=13 July 2007 }}, Committee to Protect Journalists, 16 February 2006.[http://cpj.org/deadly/cpj-database.xls "Motive Confirmed: Deaths of journalists where the CPJ is reasonably certain that the journalist was murdered in direct reprisal for his or her work; was killed in crossfire during combat situations; or was killed while carrying out a dangerous assignment such as coverage of a street protest"]{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, spreadsheet, Committee to Protect Journalists, 15 August 2009.

According to Glasnost Defence Foundation, there were 9 cases of suspicious deaths of journalists in 2006, as well as 59 assaults on journalists, and 12 attacks on editorial offices.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gdf.ru/monitor/2006/2006.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927212408/http://www.gdf.ru/monitor/2006/2006.shtml|url-status=dead|title=Конфликты, зафиксированные службой мониторинга ФЗГ на территории РФ в течение 2006 года|archivedate=27 September 2007}} In 2005, the list of all cases included 7 deaths, 63 assaults, 12 attacks on editorial offices, 23 incidents of censorship, 42 criminal prosecutions, 11 illegal layoffs, 47 cases of detention by militsiya, 382 lawsuits, 233 cases of obstruction, 23 closings of editorial offices, 10 evictions, 28 confiscations of printed production, 23 cases of stopping broadcasting, 38 refusals to distribute or print production, 25 acts of intimidation, and 344 other violations of Russian journalist rights.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gdf.ru/monitor/2005/2005.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807105834/http://www.gdf.ru/monitor/2005/2005.shtml|url-status=dead|title=Конфликты, зафиксированные ФЗГ в течение 2005 года на территории РФ|archivedate=7 August 2007}}

On 7 October 2006, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, known for her criticisms of Russia's actions in Chechnya and the pro-Russia Chechen government, was shot in the lobby of her apartment building. The death of Politkovskaya triggered an outcry of criticism of Russia in the Western media, with accusations that, at best, Vladimir Putin has failed to protect the country's new independent media.[http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/joan_smith/article1822204.ece Putin's Russia failed to protect this brave woman] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201301/http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/joan_smith/article1822204.ece |date=27 September 2007 }}, Joan Smith.[http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/09/1358259 Anna Politkovskaya, Prominent Russian Journalist, Putin Critic and Human Rights Activist, Murdered in Moscow] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114163923/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F10%2F09%2F1358259 |date=14 November 2007 }}, Democracy Now

International Press Institute reports selective use of regulations, politically motivated criminal investigations, journalist imprisonments, outlet shutdowns and aggressive harassments by security services. According to the organization, Russia remains the most dangerous European country for journalists, with four killed in 2009.{{Cite web |url=http://www.freemedia.at/publications/world-press-freedom-review/europe/singleview/europe-overview/3213bc8ec3/ |title=International Press Institute: Europe Overview |access-date=25 October 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Amnesty International reported in 2009, that "Human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers who spoke openly about human rights abuses faced threats and intimidation. The police appeared to be reluctant to investigate such threats and a climate of impunity for attacks on civil society activists prevailed." Amnesty International reported also a "climate of growing intolerance towards independent views". According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Russia is a more dangerous place now than it was during the Cold War. Only Iraq and Algeria outrank it on the list of most life-threatening countries for the press.[http://cpj.org/reports/CPJ.Anatomy%20of%20Injustice.pdf "Anatomy of injustice"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903220714/http://cpj.org/reports/CPJ.Anatomy%20of%20Injustice.pdf |date=3 September 2011 }}, The Committee to Protect Journalists, September 2009.

In October 2016, a group of Chechen journalists published an anonymous, dramatic appeal in The Guardian describing the intimidation and physical attacks they are experiencing under the Ramzan Kadyrov government and complete control the officials are enforcing over the media organisations in the republic.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/10/chechnya-no-longer-help-foreign-journalists-ramzan-kadyrov?CMP=share_btn_tw|title=Chechen journalists, international journalists – Ramzan Kadyrov has silenced us all|date=2016-10-10|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-10-14|archive-date=14 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714025759/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/10/chechnya-no-longer-help-foreign-journalists-ramzan-kadyrov?CMP=share_btn_tw|url-status=live}}

The Human Rights Committee of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is concerned about the contemporary situation in Russia.

at the alarming incidence of threats, violent assaults and murders of journalists and human rights defenders, which has created a climate of fear and a chilling effect on the media, including for those working in the North Caucasus, and regrets the lack of effective measures taken to protect the right to life and security of these persons.

• In August 2014 the Pskov-based publisher Lev Shlosberg, member of the opposition Yabloko party, suffered a serious attack that left him unconscious. He claims the attack was related to his paper's investigations on the deployment of Russian soldiers from Pskov to Ukraine.
• In August 2014 the investigative reporter Aleksandr Krutov was attacked and beaten in Saratov - the fourth time in his 20-year career in covering crime for a local publication.
• In September 2014 a TV crew reporting on fraud was attacked in Novosibirsk. Their equipment was destroyed and the videographer was injured.
• In December 2014, in Novosibirsk, the editor in chief of taiga.info was beaten by two men in the website premises.
• On 30 July 2018, Orkhan Dzhemal (son of Geydar Dzhemal), was killed along with film director Alexander Rastorguev and cameraman Kirill Radchenko in the Central African Republic while filming a documentary about the activities of illegal Russian military formations in the CAR.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/inthefield/2019/04/russia-africa-military-training-centre-car-190411152658162.html|title=Russia in Africa: Inside a military training centre in CAR|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=3 September 2019|archive-date=3 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903134808/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/inthefield/2019/04/russia-africa-military-training-centre-car-190411152658162.html|url-status=live}}
• In June 2019, investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was arrested and allegedly beaten in custody{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48580217|title=Russian media's rare support for arrested reporter|date=2019-06-10|access-date=2019-06-10|language=en-GB|archive-date=12 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612124722/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48580217|url-status=live}}
• In 2021, Roman Dobrokhotov left Russia after he was placed on "wanted" list by FSB for alleged "illegal crossing of border."{{Cite web|last=Moscow|first=Staff and agencies in|date=2021-09-30|title=Russia's FSB seeks to arrest journalist who worked with Bellingcat|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/30/russia-fsb-seeks-to-arrest-journalist-who-worked-with-bellingcat|access-date=2021-10-05|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=5 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005203400/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/30/russia-fsb-seeks-to-arrest-journalist-who-worked-with-bellingcat|url-status=live}}

• In February 2011, Guardian journalist Luke Harding, from Britain, was refused entry into Russia, contrary to OCSE regulations.{{which|date=August 2020}} He became the first foreign journalist to be expelled from Russia since the end of the Cold War. Some linked his expulsion with unflattering coverage of Russia, including speculation about Vladimir Putin's wealth. On 9 February Russia reversed the decision.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/09/russia-deportation-guardian-journalist |title=Russia U-turns over Guardian journalist's deportation |work=The Guardian |date=9 February 2011 |first=Dan |last=Sabbagh |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-date=3 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903115013/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/09/russia-deportation-guardian-journalist |url-status=live }}
• In July 2014, the Ukrainian journalist Yevgeniy Agarkov (1+1 TV) was arrested in Voronezh while reporting on the trial of a Ukrainian prisoner of war. He was charged with missing proper accreditation, and was convicted, deported and banned for five years.
• In September 2014, a BBC team was attacked in Astrakhan while investigating the deaths of Russian soldiers in Ukraine - at the time still denied by the Kremlin. They had their equipment destroyed.
• In 2015, an Australian journalist, Helen Womack, who spent over 30 years reporting from Russia was denied accreditation after listing on a nationalist-operated "list of enemies of Russia" website and forced to leave the country.{{cite web |title=Why I had to leave Russia, after three decades as a foreign correspondent there |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/longtime-moscow-correspondent-helen-womack-bids-a-reluctant-farewell-to-russia-after-30-years-20150619-ghoe2r.html |access-date=21 June 2015 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |first=Helen |last=Womack |date=18 June 2015 |archive-date=24 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624034711/http://www.smh.com.au/world/longtime-moscow-correspondent-helen-womack-bids-a-reluctant-farewell-to-russia-after-30-years-20150619-ghoe2r.html |url-status=live }}
• Also in 2015, following the documentary on Russian soldiers serving in the war in Donbas, Simon Ostrovsky was denied accreditation to Russia.{{cite web|url = http://tvrain.ru/news/avtory_filma_o_selfi_soldatah_v_donbasse_otkazali-389698/|title = Автору фильма о "селфи-солдатах" в Донбассе отказали в аккредитации в России|trans-title = The author of the film about "selfie soldiers" in the Donbass was denied accreditation in Russia|publisher = TV Rain|language = ru|date = 22 June 2015|access-date = 22 June 2015|archive-date = 22 June 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150622174222/http://tvrain.ru/news/avtory_filma_o_selfi_soldatah_v_donbasse_otkazali-389698/|url-status = live}}
• Wacław Radziwinowicz was expelled in December 2015.{{cite news |url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,75477,19364996,rosja-wyrzuca-korespondenta-wyborczej-bedzie-mial-miesiac.html |title=Rosja wyrzuca korespondenta "GW". Radziwinowicz: Od dziś nie mogę z Moskwy napisać ani jednego tekstu |trans-title=Russia throws out the Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent. Radziwinowicz: From today I cannot report from Moscow |first=Roman |last=Imielski |date=18 December 2015 |language=pl |work=Gazeta Wyborcza |publisher=Agora |access-date=26 April 2016 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412144557/http://wyborcza.pl/1,75477,19364996,rosja-wyrzuca-korespondenta-wyborczej-bedzie-mial-miesiac.html |url-status=live }}
• Thomas Nilsen, Editor of The Barents Observer, was declared persona non grata in November 2016.
• Sarah Rainsford was banned from working in Russia in August 2021.{{Cite web|title=Russia: CFWIJ is alarmed by the possible expulsion of journalist Sarah Rainsford|url=https://womeninjournalism.org/cfwij-press-statements/russia-cfwij-is-alarmed-by-the-possible-expulsion-of-journalist-sarah-rainsford|access-date=2021-09-03|website=The Coalition For Women In Journalism|language=en-US|archive-date=3 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903132447/https://womeninjournalism.org/cfwij-press-statements/russia-cfwij-is-alarmed-by-the-possible-expulsion-of-journalist-sarah-rainsford|url-status=live}}
• Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia on March 29, 2023 by the FSB on charges of espionage. {{Cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=2023-04-10 |title=US declares journalist Evan Gershkovich wrongfully detained by Moscow |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/10/journalist-evan-gershkovich-wrongfully-detained-russia-wall-street-journal |access-date=2023-04-13 |issn=0261-3077}} He is the first American journalist to be detained in Russia since the Cold War.

{{main|Censorship in Russia}}

Article 29(5) of the Constitution of Russia states, "The freedom of the mass media shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be prohibited."[http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/articles/ConstEng2.shtml Article 29] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830104153/http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/articles/ConstEng2.shtml |date=30 August 2013 }}, Chapter 2: Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen, The Constitution of Russia, Kremlin Archive. Retrieved 14 September 2013. The World Report 2009 by Human Rights Watch said that the Russian government controlled over civil society through selective implementation of the law, media restrictions and harassment of activists and human rights defenders.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2009_web.pdf|title=Human Rights Watch: World Report 2009: Russia|website=HRW.org|access-date=15 June 2017|archive-date=8 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608182836/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2009_web.pdf|url-status=live}}

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe said in 2005 interview to Russian radio Ekho Moskvy that there was pressure on media from authorities in Russia's regions and the situation with the central media caused concerns, as many central TV stations were losing former independence. His conclusion was that the most important task in Russia was to protect the victories of the 1991 law on mass media, and to let journalists work fully independently. Yet, he concluded that with all the difficulties the Russian media were free as a whole, and that he was interviewed in a direct broadcast without censorship was evidence of some press freedom.[http://echo.msk.ru/programs/beseda/35878/ Interview of Alvaro Gil-Robles to M. Ganapolsky] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107013416/http://echo.msk.ru/programs/beseda/35878/ |date=7 November 2012 }}, Echo of Moscow, 24 April 2005, {{in lang|ru}}.

According to 2005 research conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM),[http://wciom.com/ Russian Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515055758/http://wciom.com/ |date=15 May 2007 }}, web site. Retrieved 14 September 2013. the number of Russians who approve of censorship on TV had grown from 63% to 82% in a year. However, sociologists believed that Russians were not voting in favor of press freedom suppression, but rather for expulsion of ethically doubtful material such as scenes of violence and sex (57% for restricting of violence and sex depiction on TV, 30% for ban of fraudulent businesses ads; and 24% for products for sex ads, and 'criminal way of life propaganda' films).{{cite web|first=Natalia|last=Dembinskaia|url=http://www.russia-gateway.ru/content/NEWS/NewsItem_3026086/|script-title=ru:82% россиян выступают за цензуру на телевидении|trans-title=82% of Russians approve of television censorship|language=ru|work=Russian Development Portal|date=24 June 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929132453/http://www.russia-gateway.ru/content/NEWS/NewsItem_3026086/|archive-date=29 September 2007}}

According to journalist Maxim Kononenko, "People invent censorship for themselves, and what happens on some TV channels, some newspapers, happens not because Putin dials them and says: 'No, this mustn't go.' But because their bosses are fools."[http://www.itartass.ur.ru/redakt/?id=325 Interview with Maxim Kononenko] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206070030/http://itartass.ur.ru/redakt/?id=325 |date=6 December 2007 }}, Эдуарду Коридорову, ТАСС-Прогноз, 15 July 2005, {{in lang|ru}}. ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tass-ural.ru%2Freviewer%2F47195.html&sandbox=1 English translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222114314/http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tass-ural.ru%2Freviewer%2F47195.html&sandbox=1 |date=22 February 2016 }}). However, political scientist Yevgenia Albats, in interview with Eduard Steiner, has disputed this assertion: "Today the directors of the television channels and the newspapers are invited every Thursday into the Kremlin office of the deputy head of administration, Vladislav Surkov to learn what news should be presented, and where. Journalists are bought with enormous salaries. In discussions they tell us then how horrible it is to work in the state television service."{{cite journal |first=Eduard |last=Steiner |url=http://www.redost.com/1/texts/interviews/what-should-i-be-afraid-of/ |title=What should I be afraid of? |journal=Magazine for Arts and Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe |date=April 2007 |access-date=26 April 2016 |archive-date=27 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127134350/http://www.redost.com/1/texts/interviews/what-should-i-be-afraid-of/ |url-status=live }}

Since 2012, at the beginning of Vladimir Putin's third presidential term, numerous laws have been passed to make censorship and extensive surveillance easier. Such measures also led to self-censorship.{{Cite news|url=http://www.dw.com/en/reporters-without-borders-russian-laws-lead-to-self-censorship/a-17394661|title=Reporters Without Borders: Russian laws 'lead to self-censorship'|date=29 January 2014|work=Deutsche Welle|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=1 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501080808/http://www.dw.com/en/reporters-without-borders-russian-laws-lead-to-self-censorship/a-17394661|url-status=live}} A 2016 report by PEN America shows that limitations of freedom of expression in today's Russia do not affect only journalism and media, but the overall cultural space. According to the report, a confluence of laws aimed at contrasting terrorism and religious hatred and protecting children have led to an environment in which is increasingly hard to distribute fiction, broadcast independent television and promote independent theatre and music productions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2016/02/09/how-censorship-works-in-vladimir-putins-russia/|title=How censorship works in Vladimir Putin's Russia|last=Rosenberg|first=Alyssa|date=9 February 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=25 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425102203/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2016/02/09/how-censorship-works-in-vladimir-putins-russia/|url-status=live}} In addition, the selectivity and, at times, arbitrariness of Roskomnadzor, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, create uncertainty for writers, authors, publishers and other media producers, which often results in self-censorship as a way to avoid uncertain rules and arbitrary enforcement.{{Cite journal|date=25 January 2016|title=Discourse in danger: attacks on free expression in Putin's Russia|url=https://pen.org/sites/default/files/PEN_Discourse_In_Danger_Russia_web.pdf|journal=PEN America Center|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=30 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730021916/https://pen.org//sites/default/files/PEN_Discourse_In_Danger_Russia_web.pdf|url-status=live}}

Also, according to the 2016 Freedom House's report on freedom of the press, government officials frequently use the country's politicized and corrupt court system to harass journalists and bloggers who expose abuses by authorities. In the Russian legal system the definition of extremism is broad and this make possible for officials to invoke it to silence critical voices. Enforcement of such legal provisions has encouraged self-censorship in the country.{{Cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/russia|title=Russia. Freedom of the Press 2016|date=2016|website=freedomhouse.org|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620174443/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/russia|url-status=live}}

In 2019 Russia introduced new regulation commonly called "fake news law" which criminalizes publications containing "unreliable" information" as well as opinions that show "disrespect for society, government, state symbols, the constitution and government institutions".{{Cite web|title=Russia Criminalizes The Spread of Online News Which 'Disrespects' The Government|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/03/18/704600310/russia-criminalizes-the-spread-of-online-news-which-disrespects-the-government|access-date=2020-06-19|website=NPR.org|date=18 March 2019|language=en|archive-date=19 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619171654/https://www.npr.org/2019/03/18/704600310/russia-criminalizes-the-spread-of-online-news-which-disrespects-the-government|url-status=live|last1=Sant|first1=Shannon Van}} The law was criticized for vague wording allowing selective application e.g. against political opposition.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic the Novaya Gazeta was fined 60,000 rubles under new "fake news" law for disputing the officially declared mortality statistics.{{Cite web|title="Эхо Москвы" и главреда сайта радиостанции оштрафовали на 260 тысяч рублей по закону о фейках из-за интервью с политологом Соловьем|url=https://novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/06/19/162425-eho-moskvy-i-glavreda-sayta-radiostantsii-oshtrafovali-na-260-tysyach-rubley-za-intervyu-s-politologom-soloviem|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Новая газета - Novayagazeta.ru|language=ru|archive-date=21 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621180313/https://novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/06/19/162425-eho-moskvy-i-glavreda-sayta-radiostantsii-oshtrafovali-na-260-tysyach-rubley-za-intervyu-s-politologom-soloviem|url-status=live}}

In summer 2012, the Russian State Duma considered Bill 89417-6 which would create a blacklist of Internet sites including child pornography, drug-related material, and extremist material; as well as making providers of telecom services liable for such breaches. The bill was criticized as not being aimed at combating the causes of illegal content and its distribution through the internet, nor contribute to the effectiveness of law enforcement and prosecution of criminals, and its subjective criteria could allow Russian authorities to mass block internet resources with legal content.[http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120706/174427445.html "Russian Lawmakers Set to Debate Internet Blacklist"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713041027/http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120706/174427445.html |date=13 July 2012 }}, RIA Novosti (Moscow), 6 July 2012.[http://www.president-sovet.ru/council_decision/council_statement/zayavlenie_chlenov_soveta_v_otnoshenii_zakonoproekta_89417_6.php President's Council for the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028171623/http://president-sovet.ru/council_decision/council_statement/zayavlenie_chlenov_soveta_v_otnoshenii_zakonoproekta_89417_6.php |date=28 October 2012 }}, Statement by the Council in respect of the bill № 89417-6 "On Amendments to the Federal Law" On protection of children from information harmful to their health and development " - retrieved 9 July 2012 In December 2013, a law criminalizing "calls for separatism" was proposed. Under the law, violators face a fine of up to 306,700 rubles ($9,500) or jail terms of up to five years for making public calls for action aimed against the country's territorial integrity.

Since 2009, law enforcement agencies (most notably the FSB) have abused newly introduced anti-extremism laws to suppress freedom of speech, including corruption investigations.{{cite web|url = http://www.interpretermag.com/fsb-increasingly-involved-in-misuse-of-anti-extremism-laws-sova-says/|title = FSB Increasingly Involved in Misuse of 'Anti-Extremism' Laws, SOVA Says|publisher = The Interpreter Magazine|date = 29 March 2015|access-date = 1 April 2015|author = Paul Goble|archive-date = 24 February 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224154416/https://www.interpretermag.com/fsb-increasingly-involved-in-misuse-of-anti-extremism-laws-sova-says/|url-status = live}} Publications and activities classified as "extremist" included protests against the court rulings in Bolotnaya Square case ("calling for illegal action") and criticism of overspending of local governor ("insult of the authorities") or publishing a poem in support of Ukraine ("inciting hatred"){{cite web|url=http://zapretno.info/?page_id=462 |title=Examples of forbidden content |publisher=Zapretno.info |date=2014 |access-date=29 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030004457/http://zapretno.info/?page_id=462 |archive-date=30 October 2014 }} In 2015, the fines for "extremist" content were raised to a maximum of 1 million rubles ($16,069).{{cite web|url = http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-raises-extremism-fines-for-russian-media-tenfold/520181.html|title = Putin Raises 'Extremism' Fines for Russian Media Tenfold|work = The Moscow Times|date = 4 May 2015|access-date = 6 May 2015|archive-date = 7 May 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150507160126/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-raises-extremism-fines-for-russian-media-tenfold/520181.html|url-status = live}}

• In June 2015, Alexandr Byvshev, the poet whose works were banned as "extremist" earlier, was also listed on the official "list of terrorists and extremists" maintained by the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Росфинмониторинг, Rosfinmonitoring) and a "spontaneous collective condemnation" campaign was started in his village described as Soviet-esque by independent media.{{cite web|title = Росфинмониторинг - Перечень террористов и экстремистов (действующие)|url = http://www.fedsfm.ru/documents/terrorists-catalog-portal-act|website = www.fedsfm.ru|access-date = 10 June 2015|archive-date = 21 October 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191021182028/http://www.fedsfm.ru/documents/terrorists-catalog-portal-act|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|title = The Propaganda War: Opposition Sings Kremlin Tune on Ukraine|url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/in-moscow-propaganda-war-even-opposition-is-singing-kremlin-tune-a-965487.html|newspaper = Spiegel Online|date = 22 April 2014|access-date = 10 June 2015|first1 = Christian|last1 = Neef|first2 = Matthias|last2 = Schepp|archive-date = 9 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150709165146/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/in-moscow-propaganda-war-even-opposition-is-singing-kremlin-tune-a-965487.html|url-status = live}}
• Litvinenko's book "Blowing Up Russia" was also listed as an "extremist publication" and banned in 2015.{{cite web|title = Грани.Ру: Книга "ФСБ взрывает Россию" включена в список экстремистских материалов|url = http://grani.ru/Politics/Russia/Cabinet/m.240902.html|website = grani.ru|access-date = 10 June 2015|archive-date = 10 June 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150610132126/http://grani.ru/Politics/Russia/Cabinet/m.240902.html|url-status = live}}
• In November 2015, just before the Holodomor anniversary in Ukraine, the articles of Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term genocide and used it to describe the Holodomor, were also added to the federal index of extremist materials in Russia.{{cite web|title = Федеральный список экстремистских материалов дорос до п. 3152|url = http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2015/11/d33272/|website = SOVA Center for Information and Analysis|access-date = 28 November 2015|archive-date = 30 November 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151130022056/http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2015/11/d33272/|url-status = live}}
• In February 2016, police in Saint Petersburg confiscated a whole print run of a book by a Polish war-time author Jan Nowak-Jeziorański because of an allegedly "extremist content" (mentions of Nazi-Soviet collaboration during World War II).{{cite web|url = http://www.cogita.ru/cogita/news/novye-knigi/izyat-tirazh-knigi-yana-novaka-ezyoranskogo|title = Изъят тираж книги Яна Новака-Езёраньского|access-date = 15 February 2016|archive-date = 23 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160223084404/http://www.cogita.ru/cogita/news/novye-knigi/izyat-tirazh-knigi-yana-novaka-ezyoranskogo|url-status = live}}
• In 2017 an image of Putin as a "gay clown" was added as item 4071,[http://minjust.ru/ru/node/243787] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412232145/http://minjust.ru/ru/node/243787|date=12 April 2018}} page 453, item 4071 "Плакат с изображением человека, похожего на президента РФ В.В. Путина, на лице которого макияж – накрашены ресницы и губы, что, по замыслу автора/авторов плаката, должно служить намеком на якобы нестандартную сексуальную ориентацию президента РФ. Текст под изображением (воспроизводится с сохранением особенностей орфографии и пунктуации, с сокрытием нецензурной лексики): «Избиратели Путина, как ... вроде бы их много, но среди моих знакомых их нет», размещенный 07 мая 2014 года в социальной сети «Вконтакте» на аккаунте http://vk.com/id161877484 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125111334/https://vk.com/id161877484|date=25 November 2018}} с ник-неймом «Александр Цветков» (решение Центрального районного суда г. Твери от 11.05.2016);" as a result of a 2016 legal case against social media activist A. V. Tsvetkov.{{cite web|last=Robins-Early|first=Nick|date=6 April 2017|title=Russia Bans 'Extremist' Image of Putin in Makeup|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/putin-ban-extremist-gay-photo_us_58e5675de4b0917d3476f919|access-date=15 June 2017|via=Huff Post|archive-date=10 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610122739/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/putin-ban-extremist-gay-photo_us_58e5675de4b0917d3476f919|url-status=live}}
• In October 2018 customs office in Saint Petersburg stopped a single copy of book "Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia" by Masha Gessen, ordered on Amazon by a lawyer Sergey Golubok. DHL requested a declaration from Golubok that "the book does not contain extremist content" prior to delivery, and a few days later customs office requested him to certify that the book "does not spread specific views". The book is not sold in Russia, but it's also not in the "register of extremist materials".{{Cite news|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/22/reinventing-soviet-style-censorship-russia-and-beyond|title=Reinventing Soviet-Style Censorship in Russia – and Beyond?|date=2018-11-21|work=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2018-11-23|language=en|archive-date=26 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126175854/https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/22/reinventing-soviet-style-censorship-russia-and-beyond|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://tvrain.ru/news/tamozhnja-475500/|title=Петербургская таможня не пропустила книгу Маши Гессен о тоталитаризме в России|last=Inc.|first=TV Rain|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122051736/https://tvrain.ru/news/tamozhnja-475500/|url-status=live}}
• Coordinated measures are being applied to movies that do not follow Russia's currently preferred official version of historical events, including fiction and documentary movies. Preemptive "inspections" by the prosecutor general office, Ministry of Culture and other official organs, as well as not issuing a required "screening license" was used to harass directors and block widespread shows of films such as The Death of Stalin, "Holiday" (rus. Праздник) by Andrey Krassovski,{{Cite web|url=https://tass.ru/kultura/6019331|title=YouTube удалил фильм Алексея Красовского "Праздник"|website=TASS|access-date=2019-01-20|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124003542/https://tass.ru/kultura/6019331|url-status=live}} Child 44, Ordered to forget.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/327422-banned-movies-russia|title=Final cut: Movies that have been banned in Russia|last=Tokmasheva|first=Maria|date=2018-01-30|website=www.rbth.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-20|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130210848/https://www.rbth.com/arts/327422-banned-movies-russia|url-status=live}}
• Doctors and medical personnel from Abinsk complaining about lack of overtime payments related to the COVID-19 crisis were accused of "carrying out extremist activities" by police.{{Cite news|last=Higgins|first=Andrew|date=2020-05-25|title=Putin Speaks, Officials Shrug, and Doctors Are Caught in the Middle|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/world/europe/putin-russia-coronavirus.html|access-date=2020-05-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=26 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526104407/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/world/europe/putin-russia-coronavirus.html|url-status=live}}
• A Russian cover of the Dead Kennedys song "Kill the poor" was deemed "extremist" and banned countrywide.{{Cite web|title=Минюст внёс песню "Порнофильмов" в список экстремистских|url=https://roskomsvoboda.org/post/nishih-ubivay-v-reestre-extremizma/|access-date=2021-12-07|website=roskomsvoboda.org|language=ru|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207202741/https://roskomsvoboda.org/post/nishih-ubivay-v-reestre-extremizma/|url-status=live}}
• A 1961 chemistry textbook was banned, as a chapter on synthesis of ketones was described by court as "undermining security of the country".{{Cite web|title=Суд признал главу из книги о химии за 1961 год «подрывающей безопасность государства»|url=https://roskomsvoboda.org/post/permskiy-prokuror-zablochil-karnozhitskogo/|access-date=2021-12-07|website=roskomsvoboda.org|language=ru|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207202737/https://roskomsvoboda.org/post/permskiy-prokuror-zablochil-karnozhitskogo/|url-status=live}}

The Ministry of Justice maintains a list of "extremist materials" which are illegal to share.

Starting in 2021, Russia Today was increasingly involved in tracking any independent media outlets and singling them out as "foreign agents". RT relied on its own investigations and also on work of "patriotic" activists such as Alexander Ionov and Vitaly Borodin.{{Cite web|title=The Enemies List How the authorities divide the labor of crushing Russia's free press|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/08/27/the-enemies-list|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Meduza|language=en|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929122518/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/08/27/the-enemies-list|url-status=live}} Russia Today is widely considered to be a purveyor of pro-government and pro-Putin propaganda rather than a legitimate news source and was created in 2013 by an executive order.{{Cite web |title=Press Freedom in Russia |url=https://www.humanrightspulse.com/mastercontentblog/press-freedom-in-russia |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Human Rights Pulse |date=9 August 2020 |language=en-US}}

In September 2021 OCCRP declared it will cease work in Russia, as a significant number of journalists cooperating with OCCRP were harassed by the authorities.{{Cite web|last=OCCRP|title=OCCRP прекращает деятельность в России|url=https://www.occrp.org/ru/home/37-ccblog/ccblog/15166-occrp-13|access-date=2021-09-15|website=www.occrp.org|language=ru-RU|archive-date=15 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915104658/https://www.occrp.org/ru/home/37-ccblog/ccblog/15166-occrp-13|url-status=live}}

The regulations about extremist content are applied selectively: in October 2021 the "Republic" news website was fined by Roscomnadzor for mentioning the Taliban without making a mandatory remark about its "banned terrorist organization", while at the same time state media agency Rossiya Segodnya sent out an internal memo to its reporters to discontinue adding the same remark to their news, which was described by editor of "Republic" as "introduction of two parallel legal realities".{{Cite web|title=Russian state media orders reporters to stop calling the Taliban a 'banned terrorist organization'|url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/11/08/russian-state-media-orders-reporters-to-stop-calling-the-taliban-a-banned-terrorist-organization|access-date=2021-11-08|website=Meduza|language=en|archive-date=8 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108193906/https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/11/08/russian-state-media-orders-reporters-to-stop-calling-the-taliban-a-banned-terrorist-organization|url-status=live}}

After Russia took control of Crimea, the Russian parliament passed a law making it a criminal offense to question Russia's territorial integrity within what the government considers its borders.{{Cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-crimea-semena-separatism-trial-cpj-drop-charges/28315187.html|title=Trial Postponed For Crimean Journalist Charged With Separatism|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=17 February 2017 |access-date=28 April 2017|archive-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427155629/http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-crimea-semena-separatism-trial-cpj-drop-charges/28315187.html|url-status=live}} A man named Andrei Bubayev was jailed for two years for reposting a picture of a toothpaste tube with the words "squeeze Russia out of yourself" and an article under the headline "Crimea is Ukraine" by a controversial blogger, who is in jail now, calling for military aggression against Russia.{{Cite web|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0274242811894097a9d79f789002aab0/dozens-russia-imprisoned-social-media-likes-reposts|title=Dozens in Russia imprisoned for social media likes, reposts|website=The Big Story|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331035716/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0274242811894097a9d79f789002aab0/dozens-russia-imprisoned-social-media-likes-reposts|archive-date=31 March 2017|url-status=live}}

The Russian-language edition of the popular bestseller 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari published in 2019 had references to the annexation of Crimea and Putin removed or replaced on the basis that they were fake news, and other references were also changed. The author said that he gave permission for these changes and said that he has allowed changes in other translations, as certain examples "could deter those audiences or spur censorship on the part of certain regimes."{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/07/23/post-post-truth|website=meduza.io|title=Post-post-truth|access-date=2019-07-24|archive-date=24 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724123034/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/07/23/post-post-truth|url-status=live}}

A number of people have been fined under a 2014 law against the "rehabilitation of Nazism" which includes criminalizing intentionally spreading what is deemed to be false information about the Soviet Union. Putin and other officials have talked about the need to counter the "rewriting of history", opposing interpretations that differ from official narratives.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37595972|title=Putin backs WW2 myth in new Russian film|last=Bone|first=Harry|date=2016-10-11|access-date=2019-12-23|language=en-GB|archive-date=14 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314002549/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37595972|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Law Against Rehabilitation of Nazism}}

In 2021 a new law was proposed to regulate "educational activities" (Russian: "просветительская деятельность"), which would require government license for any kind of educational activity, including public or private lectures, podcasts, video lectures etc. The proposal caused a large outcry from the scientific community, including a petition signed by nearly 250,000 people. Lawmaker Valentina Matvienko defended the measures, explaining they "can be defined in different ways and very broadly", which was precisely why the law was so controversial. Critics pointed out that Russian law enforcement will stretch the meaning of the law beyond any common sense and use for the prosecution of free speech.{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/04/05/putin-signs-legislation-bringing-educational-activities-under-state-control|access-date=2021-04-06|website=meduza.io|title=Putin signs legislation bringing 'educational activities' under state control|archive-date=5 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405174610/https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/04/05/putin-signs-legislation-bringing-educational-activities-under-state-control|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/03/18/just-say-no|access-date=2021-04-06|website=meduza.io|title=Just say no Meduza breaks down the potential fallout from Russia's draft law on 'educational activity'|archive-date=6 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406064539/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/03/18/just-say-no|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Internet censorship in Russia|Mass surveillance in Russia}}

Russia was found to engage in selective Internet filtering in the political and social areas; no evidence of filtering was found in the conflict/security and Internet tools areas by the OpenNet Initiative in December 2010.[http://opennet.net/research/profiles "ONI Country Profiles"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826003215/http://opennet.net/research/profiles |date=26 August 2011 }}, Research section at the OpenNet Initiative web site, a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa Russia was on the Reporters Without Borders list of countries under surveillance from 2010 to 2013[http://march12.rsf.org/i/Report_EnemiesoftheInternet_2012.pdf Internet Enemies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323215225/http://march12.rsf.org/i/Report_EnemiesoftheInternet_2012.pdf |date=23 March 2012 }}, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012 and was moved to the Internet Enemies list in 2014.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140312120731/http://12mars.rsf.org/2014-en/#slide2 "Internet Enemies"], Enemies of the Internet 2014: Entities at the heart of censorship and surveillance, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 11 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014. On 31 March 2013, The New York Times reported that Russia was beginning 'Selectively Blocking [the] Internet'.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/technology/russia-begins-selectively-blocking-internet-content.html?_r=1&|title = Russians Selectively Blocking Internet|date = 31 March 2013|newspaper = The New York Times|access-date = 22 February 2017|archive-date = 20 January 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160120173704/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/technology/russia-begins-selectively-blocking-internet-content.html?_r=1&|url-status = live}}

• Russia's System of Operational-Investigatory Measures (SORM) requires telecommunications operators to install hardware provided by the Federal Security Service (FSB). It allow the agency to unilaterally monitor users' communications metadata and content, including phone calls, email traffic and web browsing activity.{{Cite journal|last=Maréchal|first=Nathalie|date=2017-03-22|title=Networked Authoritarianism and the Geopolitics of Information: Understanding Russian Internet Policy|journal=Media and Communication|volume=5|issue=1|pages=29–41|doi=10.17645/mac.v5i1.808|issn=2183-2439|doi-access=free}} Metadata can be obtained without a warrant. In 2014, the system was expanded to include social media platforms, and the Ministry of Communications ordered companies to install new equipment with deep packet inspection (DPI) capability. In 2015, the European Court for Human Rights found Russia's SORM surveillance legislation and practice in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (Zakharov v. Russia).
• The Russian internet blacklist law (2012) faced criticism by major websites and NGOs on it launch.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20096274|title=Russia internet blacklist law takes effect|date=31 October 2012|publisher=BBC|access-date=3 November 2012|archive-date=13 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513073011/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20096274|url-status=live}} At the time of introduction the list was described as a means for the protection of children from harmful content; particularly content which glorifies drug usage, advocates suicide or describes suicide methods, or contain child pornography. In 2013 the blacklist law was amended with a clause to block content "suspected in extremism". It was expanded to include actions such as "calling for illegal meetings", "inciting hatred" and any other actions "violating the established order".{{Cite web|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2013/12/30/block/|title=Путин подписал закон о блокировке сайтов за экстремизм|access-date=2015-08-23|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228121706/https://lenta.ru/news/2013/12/30/block/|url-status=live}}[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/internet-restriction-bill-passes-first-reading/461792.html Internet Restriction Bill Passes First Reading] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715010033/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/internet-restriction-bill-passes-first-reading/461792.html |date=15 July 2012 }}, The Moscow Times, 8 July 2012, retrieved 9 July 2012[http://kiziltan.ru/en/rubriks/politics/12276.html "Law concerning the illegal websites register has come into force"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105213452/http://kiziltan.ru/en/rubriks/politics/12276.html|date=5 November 2013}}, Lyudmila Ternovaya, Кызыл тан, 30 July 2012, accessed 7 August 2012 During the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Roskomnadzor blocked a number of websites criticising Russian policy in Ukraine, including pages of Alexei Navalny, Garri Kasparov and Grani.ru.{{cite web|url=http://grani.ru/wiki/Blocked/|title=Нас блокируют. Что делать?|date=2014|publisher=Grani.ru|access-date=3 April 2014|archive-date=6 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506112814/http://grani.ru/wiki/Blocked/|url-status=live}} In July 2014, the online extremism law was used to prevent a march for Siberian autonomy.Freedom House, [freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/russia Russia 2015 Press Freedom report] In subsequent years, it has been used to block caricatures of Vladimir Putin{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/putin-ban-extremist-gay-photo_us_58e5675de4b0917d3476f919|title=Russia Bans 'Extremist' Image of Putin in Makeup|last=Robins-Early|first=Nick|date=6 April 2017|access-date=15 June 2017|via=Huff Post|archive-date=10 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610122739/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/putin-ban-extremist-gay-photo_us_58e5675de4b0917d3476f919|url-status=live}} and LGBTQ content.{{cite web|url=https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-blacklists-lgbt-teen-online-support-group-43480|title=Russia Blacklists LGBT Teen Online Support Group|date=2015-02-02|work=The Moscow Times|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802041940/https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-blacklists-lgbt-teen-online-support-group-43480|url-status=live}}{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}
• The "Bloggers law" (2014), an amendment to existing anti-terrorism legislation, requires all web services to store the user data of Russian citizens on servers within the country. Sites which do not comply with this requirement may be added to the blacklist.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-gmail-skype-face-russia-ban-under-anti-terror-plan/|title=Facebook, Gmail, Skype face Russia ban under 'anti-terror' plan|date=23 July 2014|work=CNET|access-date=24 July 2014|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308024508/https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-gmail-skype-face-russia-ban-under-anti-terror-plan/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28173513|title=Russian MPs back law on internet data storage|work=BBC News|access-date=24 July 2014|archive-date=2 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802051130/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28173513|url-status=live}} Since August 2014, the law requires operators of free Wi-Fi hotspots (e.g. in restaurants, libraries, cafes etc.) to collect personal details of all users and identify them using passports.{{cite web|url=http://rapsinews.com/legislation_news/20140808/271879206.html|title=Passport now required to use public Wi-Fi in Russia|date=2014-08-08|publisher=RAPSI|access-date=2014-09-22|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802045342/http://rapsinews.com/legislation_news/20140808/271879206.html|url-status=live}}
• The "Yarovaya law" (2016) requires telecom operators to store recordings of phone conversations, text messages and users' internet traffic for up to 6 months, as well as metadata for up to 3 years. This data as well as "all other information necessary" is available to authorities on request and without a court order.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/12/russia-big-brother-law-harms-security-rights|title=Russia: 'Big Brother' Law Harms Security, Rights|date=2016-07-12|work=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2017-07-02|language=en|archive-date=21 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421060443/https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/12/russia-big-brother-law-harms-security-rights|url-status=live}}

Social media platforms came under increased pressure in 2014. In April the founder of Vkontakte, Pavel Durov, announced he'd resign and leave the country due to FSB intimidation, after he refused to hand over the account data of Ukrainian activists. In September 2014 Vkontakte was taken over by mail.ru, owned by Kremlin-friendly businessman Alisher Usmanov.

• In 2004, Russia pressured Lithuania and in 2006 Sweden into shutting down the Kavkaz Center website, a site that supports creation of a Sharia state in North Caucasus and hosts videos on terrorist attacks on Russian forces in North Caucasus.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3669624.stm "Lithuania shuts Chechen rebel site"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303043200/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3669624.stm |date=3 March 2018 }}, BBC News, 18 September 2004[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3727266.stm "Chechen rebel website reopens"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817060039/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3727266.stm |date=17 August 2018 }}, BBC News, 8 October 2004
• Magomed Yevloyev, editor of Ingushetia.org, a vocal critic of the region's administration, was murdered in August 2008.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7590719.stm Kremlin critic shot in Ingushetia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211013820/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7590719.stm |date=11 February 2021 }}, BBC
• Against the background of the December 2008 demonstrations in Vladivostok,[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/world/europe/22russia.html?ref=world Protests on Car Tariffs Erupt in Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910204653/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/world/europe/22russia.html?ref=world |date=10 September 2018 }}, The New York Times, 22 December 2008 it was reported by Kontury news website that FSB officers addressed moderators of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090110132147/http://community.livejournal.com/ru_auto/ ru_auto] Internet community with a request to remove stories about the Vladivostok protests. The major reason, as reported by a moderator of the resource, was that a number of repeating posts with the information about protests worsened some sort of statistics on people's attitudes. The moderator in question requested bloggers to publish only unique posts about protest actions.{{Cite web |url=http://kontury.info/news/2008-12-23-607 |title=Сергей Лавров оправдал преследования геев и "Pussy Riot" "православием" народа - Контуры |access-date=25 December 2008 |archive-date=3 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603102553/http://kontury.info/news/2008-12-23-607 |url-status=live }}{{failed verification|date = September 2013}}
• In December 2009, Internet provider Yota, with over 100,000 subscribers,[http://www.thg.ru/technews/20090818_184920.html "Yota: subscriber growth"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802060935/http://www.thg.ru/technews/20090818_184920.html |date=2 August 2017 }}, 18 August 2009 blocked access to some Russian opposition Internet resources for its Moscow-based subscribers for a few days. The block occurred after the chief prosecutor of St. Petersburg recommended that the company block access to extremist resources. At the time, the only Internet resource listed as extremist by the Ministry of Justice of Russia was the site of Caucasian separatists Kavkaz Center. Since the evening of 6 December 2009, Yota opened access to all previously blocked resources, save for Kavkaz Center.[http://www.nr2.ru/technology/259778.html "Абоненты расследуют «фильтрацию» оппозиционных сайтов"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928193113/http://www.nr2.ru/technology/259778.html |date=28 September 2011 }} ("Subscribers are investigating the 'filtering' of opposition websites"), Olga Ivanova, New Russia News Agency (NR2), 3 December 2009, {{in lang|ru}}. ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nr2.ru%2Ftechnology%2F259778.html&sandbox=1 English translation)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503144901/http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nr2.ru%2Ftechnology%2F259778.html&sandbox=1 |date=3 May 2017 }}).[http://lenta.ru/news/2009/12/07/censorship/ "Абоненты Yota несколько дней не имели доступа к оппозиционным сайтам"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305140353/https://lenta.ru/news/2009/12/07/censorship/ |date=5 March 2016 }} ("Yota blocked access to opposition sites for several days"), Lenta.Ru, 7 December 2009 {{in lang|ru}}. ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Flenta.ru%2Fnews%2F2009%2F12%2F07%2Fcensorship%2F&sandbox=1 English translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710073500/http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Flenta.ru%2Fnews%2F2009%2F12%2F07%2Fcensorship%2F&sandbox=1 |date=10 July 2015 }}).
• On 5 April 2013, it was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media that Wikipedia had been blacklisted over the article 'Cannabis Smoking' on Russian Wikipedia.{{cite news|url=http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130405/180469665.html|title=Russia May Block Wikipedia Access Over Narcotics Article|date=6 May 2013|agency=RIA Novosti|access-date=5 June 2013|archive-date=10 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410031251/http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130405/180469665.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://rbth.ru/news/2013/04/05/russian_media_regulator_confirms_wikipedia_blacklisted_24706.html|title=Russian media regulator confirms Wikipedia blacklisted|date=5 April 2013|publisher=Russia Beyond The Headlines|agency=Interfax|access-date=5 June 2013|archive-date=17 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217111314/https://www.rbth.com/news/2013/04/05/russian_media_regulator_confirms_wikipedia_blacklisted_24706.html|url-status=live}}
• On 7 August 2013, the Central District Court of the city of Tver, located 100 miles (roughly 160 km) northwest of Moscow, ruled that the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses should be banned throughout the Russian Federation. On 22 January 2014 the Regional Court of Tver ruled in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses and reversed the earlier ruling by the lower court. The Regional Court conducted a new trial, which concluded that the decision of the Central District Court was unjustified, since there was no legal reason to ban the site.[http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/europe/russia/attempt-to-ban-website/ "Russian Court Overturns Attempt to Ban Bible-Education Website-JW.org"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329014925/http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/europe/russia/attempt-to-ban-website/ |date=29 March 2014 }}, Johovah's Witnesses, 21 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.{{better source needed|date = January 2014}}

{{Seealso|Russian fake news laws|Russian 2022 war censorship laws}}

File:Berlin rally after Navalny's murder asv2024-02-16 img18.jpgs, including journalists Ivan Safronov and {{ill| Maria Ponomarenko|sv|Maria Ponomarenko}}, February 2024]]

Prosecutors in Russia have the custom of charging individuals – including journalists, bloggers, and whistle-blowers – with trumped-up criminal offenses including defamation, extremism, and other common criminal charges, as part of an effort to deter and limit their activities.

• In a three-year court case beginning in 2008, Chernovik, Dagestan's largest independent newspaper, saw its editor-in-chief Nadira Isayeva and several reporters prosecuted on charges of "inciting hatred toward law enforcement officials" following criticism of the Federal Security Service's counterinsurgency tactics.{{cite web

| url = http://en.rsf.org/russie-court-acquits-dagestan-s-leading-20-05-2011,28336.html

| title = Court acquits Dagestan's leading independent newspaper

| date = 20 May 2011

| publisher = Reporters Without Borders

| access-date = 26 May 2011

| archive-date = 6 March 2016

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306160952/http://en.rsf.org/russie-court-acquits-dagestan-s-leading-20-05-2011,28336.html

| url-status = dead

}} Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists,{{cite web

|url = http://www.cpj.org/awards/2010/cpj-to-honor-brave-international-journalists.php

|title = CPJ to honor brave international journalists

|year = 2010

|publisher = Committee to Protect Journalists

|access-date = 26 May 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120902115010/https://www.cpj.org/awards/2010/cpj-to-honor-brave-international-journalists.php

|archive-date = 2 September 2012

}} and ARTICLE 19 all protested the charges,{{cite web

| url = http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/13774.html

| title = ARTICLE 19 is concerned about ongoing prosecution of independent newspaper staff in Dagestan

| date = 21 March 2010

| publisher = ARTICLE 19

| access-date = 26 May 2011

| archive-date = 5 July 2017

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170705101611/http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/13774.html

| url-status = dead

}} and Isayeva was ultimately acquitted. She described the case as "a test for the institution of press freedom" in Dagestan.{{cite web

| url = http://www.cpj.org/2011/05/dagestan-court-acquits-chernovik-journalists.php

| title = Dagestan court acquits Chernovik journalists

| date = 19 March 2011

| publisher = Committee to Protect Journalists

| access-date = 26 May 2011

| archive-date = 13 November 2013

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131113134055/http://www.cpj.org/2011/05/dagestan-court-acquits-chernovik-journalists.php

| url-status = live

}}

• In November 2013 Rostov-na-Donu investigative journalist and blogger Sergey Reznik (often reporting on corruption and abuses by politicians) was sentenced to 1.5 years in jail on various charges, including insult to a governmental official. The jail term was upheld in appeal in April 2014. A new defamation case was open against him in July 2014.
• In January 2014 Aksana Panova, former chief editor of the Ura.ru website in Yekaterinburg, was given a two-year suspended sentence - including a ban on journalist activities - after being tried for extortion. She denied all charges, claiming to be targeted in retribution for critical coverage of local officials.
• In September 2015, the Siberian journalist and blogger Dmitriy Shipilov was arrested after he interviewed the organizers of a march for Siberian autonomy. The official reason included failure to serve a three-month sentence for "insulting a public official." Shipilov claims the detention is politically motivated.
• In October 2014, Rostov-na-Donu journalist Aleksandr Tolmachyov was convicted to 9 years of hard labor on extortion charges, after having already spent three years in pre-trial detention.

Judicial harassment of the blogger and politician Alexei Navalny continued in 2014. Navalny was fined $8,400 in April for defaming a Moscow city councillor on Twitter. In December he was sentenced to three and a half years (with suspended sentence) together with his brother Oleg Navalny upon fraud charges. Roskomnadzor warned four media that reported on the sentence and relied a video of Navalny calling for demonstration, accusing them of inciting extremism. On August 20, 2020, Navalny was poisoned and nearly died. The Russian government refused to open any investigation into the poisoning, which is suspected by many to have been carried out by government agents as retaliation for Navalny's investigations of political corruption and his activities in the Russian opposition movement.{{Cite news |date=2020-12-14 |title=Alexei Navalny: Report names 'Russian agents' in poisoning case |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55303703 |access-date=2023-04-13}}

Many Russian media outlets were forced to stop covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine because of new Russia's laws on “fake news”. Leading speakers of several YouTube video blogs with large audiences have also become defendants in the "law on fakes". In particular, criminal cases were initiated against Maxim Katz of channel "Maxim Katz" and Anastasia Bryukhanova of channel "Objective".{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2023/04/12/rbk-i-ria-novosti-protiv-byvshego-munitsipalnogo-deputata-anastasii-bryuhanovoy-vozbudili-delo-o-feykah-pro-armiyu|title=На бывшего муниципального депутата Анастасию Брюханову завели уголовное дело о "фейках" про армию |language=ru |trans-title=Former municipal deputy Anastasia Bryukhanova charged in criminal case on "fake" about the army |website=Медуза |location=Riga, Latvia |date=12 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2023/03/23/sud-v-moskve-zaochno-arestoval-maksima-katsa-po-delu-o-feykah-ob-armii|title=Суд в Москве заочно арестовал Максима Каца по делу о "фейках" про армию |language=ru |trans-title=Court in Moscow arrests Maxim Katz in absentia in the case of "fake news" about the army |website=Медуза |location=Riga, Latvia |date=23 March 2023}}

• On 22 March 2022, television journalist Alexander Nevzorov was charged under Russia's "false information" law after he published information that Russian forces had shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol.{{cite news |title=Russia: Authorities launch witch-hunt to catch anyone sharing anti-war views |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/03/russia-authorities-launch-witch-hunt-to-catch-anyone-sharing-anti-war-views/ |work=Amnesty International |date=30 March 2022}}
• On 13 April 2022, Siberian journalist Mikhail Afanasyev, editor-in-chief of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained by the police for his reporting on Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite news |title=Siberian news outlets, management charged with disseminating 'fakes' about Russian army |url=https://cpj.org/2022/04/siberian-news-outlets-management-charged-for-disseminating-fakes-about-russian-army/ |work=Committee to Protect Journalists |date=14 April 2022}} Afanasyev was twice awarded the Andrei Sakharov Prize "For Journalism as a Deed."{{cite news |title=Siberian Journalist Detained Over Report Related To War In Ukraine |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/siberia-journalist-arrested-war-reporting/31803103.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=14 April 2022}} He was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in September 2023.{{cite news |last1=Nilsen |first1=Thomas |title=Mikhail sentenced to five years in jail for writing the truth |url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/democracy-and-media/2023/09/mikhail-sentenced-five-years-jail-writing-truth |work=The Barents Observer |date=7 September 2023}}
• In February 2023, journalist {{ill| Maria Ponomarenko|sv|Maria Ponomarenko}} was sentenced to six years in prison for publishing information about the Mariupol theatre airstrike.{{cite news |title=Russia Jails Anti-War Journalist 6 Years for 'Fake News' |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/15/russia-jails-anti-war-journalist-6-years-for-fake-news-a80230 |work=The Moscow Times |date=15 February 2023}}
• In June 2023, Russian journalist Ilya Krasilshchik, former publisher of the independent news site Meduza, was sentenced in absentia to 8 years in prison for "spreading false information" about the Russian military.{{cite news |title=Russian Media Publisher Sentenced to 8 Years in Absentia Over Bucha Comments |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/06/29/russian-media-publisher-sentenced-to-8-years-in-absentia-over-bucha-comments-a81695 |work=The Moscow Times |date=29 June 2023}} In August 2023,{{cite news |title=Russia brings new charges against jailed journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Maria Ponomarenko, issues arrest warrant for exiled journalist Masha Gessen |url=https://cpj.org/2023/12/russia-brings-new-charges-against-imprisoned-journalists-alsu-kurmasheva-and-maria-ponomarenko-issues-arrest-warrant-for-exiled-journalist-masha-gessen/ |work=Committee to Protect Journalists |date=14 December 2023}} Russian authorities opened a criminal case against Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen on charges of spreading "false information" about the Russian army's actions in Ukraine. In December 2023, it was reported that Gessen was placed on the Russian Interior Ministry's online wanted list.{{cite news |title=Russia Puts Prominent Russian-American Journalist on Wanted List |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-puts-prominent-russian-american-journalist-on-wanted-list-/7391630.html |work=VOA News |date=9 December 2023}}
• On 4 October 2023, former Russian state TV employee Marina Ovsyannikova was sentenced in absentia to 8.5 years jail term for "spreading false information" about the Russian army.{{cite news |title=Russia Jails State TV Protester 8.5 Years in Absentia |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/04/russia-jails-state-tv-protester-85-years-in-absentia-a82653 |work=The Moscow Times |date=4 October 2023}}
• On 6 March 2024, Russian journalist Roman Ivanov was sentenced to 7 years in prison for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army.{{cite news |title="Our country turned into an avalanche of grief." The closing court statement of journalist Roman Ivanov, sentenced to 7 years for anti‑war posts |url=https://en.zona.media/article/2024/03/07/ivanov |work=Mediazona |date=7 March 2024}} In March 2024, Russian authorities arrested six journalists working for independent Russian outlets, including Antonina Favorskaya, who worked for Sota.Vision and filmed the last video of Alexei Navalny before his death.{{cite news |title=Russia is rounding up more journalists a year after the arrest of Evan Gershkovich |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/29/media/russia-journalists-arrested-evan-gershkovich/index.html |work=CNN |date=29 March 2024}}
• In April 2024, Russian journalists Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin, who had worked for Deutsche Welle and other international media in the past, were arrested by Russian authorities on charges of "extremism".{{cite news |title=Russia: Navalny-linked journalists arrested over 'extremism' |url=https://www.dw.com/en/russia-navalny-linked-journalists-arrested-over-extremism/a-68939105 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=28 April 2024}} Forbes Russia journalist Sergey Mingazov was arrested on charges of spreading "false information" about the Russian military.{{cite news |title=Russia arrests Forbes journalist over Bucha massacre posts |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/04/26/russia-arrests-forbes-journalist-over-bucha-massacre-posts_6669618_4.html |work=Le Monde |date=26 April 2024}}
• On 17 June 2024, a Moscow court issued arrest warrants for IStories editor-in-chief and award-winning investigative reporter Roman Anin and Ekaterina Fomina, a journalist at TV Rain and a former IStories correspondent, on charges of disseminating "false information" about the Russian armed forces. Russia's Interior Ministry added two Russian journalists in exile to its wanted list. Fomina said the arrest warrant would affect her professional life as she would not be able to travel to many countries that could arrest her and extradite her to Russia.{{cite news |title=Russia issues arrest warrants for exiled journalists over war coverage |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-issues-arrest-warrants-for-exiled-journalists-over-war-coverage-/7684311.html |work=VOA News |date=3 July 2024}}

File:2011-02-03 Владимир Путин с коллективом Первого канала (7).jpeg, chief of Russia's main state-controlled TV station Channel One. About 85% of Russians get most of their information from Russian state media.{{cite magazine |last1=Stengel |first1=Richard |title=Putin May Be Winning the Information War Outside of the U.S. and Europe |url=https://time.com/6179221/putin-information-war-column/ |magazine=TIME |date=20 May 2022}} ]]

The government has been using direct ownership, or ownership by large private companies with government links, to control or influence major national media and regional media outlets, especially television. There were reports of self-censorship in the television and print media, particularly on issues critical of the government.{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/russia|title=Russia - Country report - Freedom of the Press - 2013|website=www.FreedomHouse.org|access-date=15 June 2017|archive-date=30 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730014853/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/russia|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url = http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/russia|title = Russia - Media Landscape - European Journalism Centre (EJC)|work = European Journalism Centre (EJC)|access-date = 14 February 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180320003807/http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/russia|archive-date = 20 March 2018|url-status = dead}}

In a 2016 Mediastandart Foundation survey, most of the Russian journalists reported feeling that they are not free and independent, and believe that media owners undermine the independence of journalists.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rcmediafreedom.eu/Media-freedom-datasets/IREX-Media-Sustainability-Index|title=IREX - Media Sustainability Index|date=1 February 2017|website=rcmediafreedom.eu|publisher=International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)|access-date=11 May 2017|archive-date=3 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503131352/https://www.rcmediafreedom.eu/Media-freedom-datasets/IREX-Media-Sustainability-Index|url-status=live}} According to Alexey Kudrin, Russia's former Minister of Finance and current head of the Civil Initiative Committee, "in the regions, the number of independent media is progressively declining. The same happens on the federal level—major corporations and state institutions exercise influence on the media."

In the 15 years after 1990, most of the Russian print media underwent a change of ownership. Many of them disappeared, others changed owners repeatedly.{{Cite web|url=http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/russia|title=Media Landscapes- Russia|last=Krasnoboka|first=Natalya|date=2017|website=ejc.net|publisher=European Journalism Centre|access-date=11 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320003807/http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/russia|archive-date=20 March 2018|url-status=dead}} After the new Law on Mass Media was adopted in 1991, the first stage of privatization of the media market followed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2013/12/brief-history-russian-media/|title=A complete guide to who controls the Russian news media|last=KHVOSTUNOVA|first=Olga|date=9 December 2013|website=indexoncensorship.org|publisher=Index on Censorship|access-date=11 May 2017|archive-date=15 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415131021/https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2013/12/brief-history-russian-media/|url-status=live}} The term "oligarchs", including "media oligarchs", started to be used specifically in Russia indicating powerful businessmen close to political power. The latter made them the "chosen ones" in the redistribution of the country's wealth after the Soviet Union's dissolution.{{Cite web|url=https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/oligarchs_eng.pdf|title=Media oligarchs go shopping|last=Levy|first=Alexandre|date=July 2016|website=rsf.org|publisher=Reporters Without Borders|access-date=11 May 2017|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630075607/https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/oligarchs_eng.pdf|url-status=live}} Since the election of Vladimir Putin in 1999, only oligarchs loyal to the government are able to maintain their control on strategic sectors of Russian economy and politic such as the information one.

Over 5 years between 2011 and 2016, the government forced changes of ownership in over 12 significant newsrooms with all-country reach, all of them previously associated with honest and independent reporting. RBC, Forbes, Russian Media Group, TV2, Russkaya Planeta, REN TV, Grani.ru, Lenta.ru, Rain TV, RIA Novosti, Gazeta.ru and Kommersant were suppressed or taken over using different techniques - some of them with government owned shares were completely disbanded and their resources passed to newly created bodies under control of state-approved managers (e.g. RIA Novosti, which became Russia Today), while Rain TV was forcibly removed from TV channels and only allowed to continue business as an Internet-only station.{{Cite news|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/05/18/12-newsrooms-in-5-years|title=12 newsrooms in 5 years How the Russian authorities decimated a news industry – Meduza|work=Meduza|access-date=2018-11-17|language=en|archive-date=18 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118035316/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/05/18/12-newsrooms-in-5-years|url-status=live}}

All but one of the national TV channels are fully or partially owned by the state. The last channel – NTV – is owned by Gazprom, in which the state has a controlling stake. The situation in the radio market is similar. Major information channels are controlled in some capacity by the state.

As of 2009, the Russian government owns 60% of newspapers, and in whole or in part, all national television stations.[http://www.freedomhouse.org/inc/content/pubs/pfs/inc_country_detail.cfm?country=7689&year=2009&pf "Freedom of Press 2009"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228203021/http://www.freedomhouse.org/inc/content/pubs/pfs/inc_country_detail.cfm?country=7689&year=2009&pf |date=28 December 2010 }}, Freedom House.

In 2008, the BBC stated that in recent years, companies with close links to the Government, state-owned Gazprom among them, have bought several of the most influential papers.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4315129.stm BBC: The press in Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104021131/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4315129.stm |date=4 November 2019 }} (16 May 2008)

Concerning the IREX association Media Sustainability Index, in smaller cities, private independent media are often the only sources of local news, because local municipal newspapers publish only official information.

Russian antimonopoly regulation is still evolving, with many uncertainties and compliance challenges remaining. Many of the key provisions of the Competition Law are unclear and open to interpretation. For this reason, they require further interpretation by Russian courts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mondaq.com/russianfederation/x/326570/Antitrust+Competition/Russian+Antitrust+Law+Important+Considerations+For+NonRussian+Investors|title=Russian Federation: Russian Antitrust Law: Important Considerations For Non-Russian Investors|last1=Petrov|first1=Valentin|last2=Shevtsov|first2=Petr|date=10 July 2014|website=mondaq.com|publisher=Mondaq|access-date=11 May 2017|archive-date=15 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515044026/http://www.mondaq.com/russianfederation/x/326570/Antitrust+Competition/Russian+Antitrust+Law+Important+Considerations+For+NonRussian+Investors|url-status=live}}

Governmental control over media is also exercised through the distribution of state subsidies and advertising revenues.

Observers have noted the loss of independence among national television stations.{{cite web|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=846655|title=Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles on his Visits to the Russian Federation|date=20 April 2005|publisher=Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights|access-date=16 March 2008|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304231632/https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=846655|url-status=live}}[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/16/liberal-russian-channels-state-control "Dissenting voices to be silenced as liberal Russian TV channels come under state control"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308003210/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/16/liberal-russian-channels-state-control |date=8 March 2016 }}, Guardian, 16 October 2009.[http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Heroes_and_Henchmen_gb-2.pdf "Russia, Heroes and Henchmen, The Work of Journalist and the Media in Russian Regions"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119232841/http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Heroes_and_Henchmen_gb-2.pdf |date=19 November 2011 }}, Reporters Without Borders, September 2009. As of 2013, the three main federal channels, Channel One and Russia TV, and NTV, are controlled by the government, Channel One and Russia TV because they are completely or partially owned by the Rosimuschestvo (the Federal Agency for State Property Management), and NTV because it is owned by the state-controlled energy giant Gazprom.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm#media Country profile: Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425191533/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm#media |date=25 April 2013 }}, BBC News, 6 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.

Russia TV (Rossiya) covers 98.5% of the country's territory and is state-owned. Channel One (Pervyj Kanal) covers 98.8% of Russia's territory and has a shared state and private ownership (51% state- 49% private). However, most of the private shareholders include National Media Group (controlled by the structures of Yuri Kovalchuk, chairman of the Board of Rossiya Bank, one of the largest banks in Russia, and Vladimir Putin's personal friend; and Roman Abramovich, former owner of the Chelsea football club and Putin's ally). NTV covers 84% of the national territory.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, "All three major television networks are now in the hands of Kremlin loyalists."[http://www.cpj.org/op_ed/Simon22oct06.html "Who will be Russia's conscience?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602094330/http://www.cpj.org/op_ed/Simon22oct06.html |date=2 June 2007 }}, Joel Simon, Newark Star-Ledger, 22 October 2006. Indeed, while Rossiya TV (Channel Russia) was state-owned since its foundation in 1991, major shareholders of ORT and NTV (Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, respectively) sold their stocks to the government and Gazprom in 2000–2001. Moreover, TV6, a media outlet owned by Berezovsky, was closed in 2002 using a legal loophole. In 2003 TVS channel which was formed mainly of former NTV and TV6 was closed due to financial problems.[http://search.ft.com/nonFtArticle?id=020107000939&query=TV6 Financial Times: Russian media set for landmark deals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226031413/http://search.ft.com/nonFtArticle?id=020107000939&query=TV6 |date=26 December 2007 }}, 8 January 2002

Some networks attempt to operate with minimal government connection. There are private Russian TV networks with the broadcast cover reaching the majority of the Russia's population: REN TV (known for the daily analytical talk show with Tigran Keosayan, analytical news program "Week" with Marianna Maksimovskaya), TV Center ( known for "Postscriptum" with Aleksey Pushkov, "Moment of Truth" with Andrey Karaulov), Petersburg - Channel 5.

Liberal opposition TV-Channel RTVi owned by Vladimir Gusinsky is not broadcast in Russia, but available in that country through networks of cable and satellite television, MMDS and IPTV networks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rtvi.ru/english.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716202812/http://www.rtvi.ru/english.html|url-status=dead|title=Official site of RTVi|archivedate=16 July 2011}} A former editor of a program on that channel, Vladimir Kara-Murza, believes it is the merit of the RTVi that the possibility of a third presidential term of Vladimir Putin was prevented, and that the "backdoor political technologists" were made to "abide to the Constitution, albeit with the Successor operation".[http://novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/41/11.html Near the broken air] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106015730/http://novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/41/11.html |date=6 January 2010 }}, by Novata Gazeta, 2008

On 29 January 2014, the largest Russian TV providers, after key politicians expressed their discontent, disconnected TV Rain channel in response to a survey on its website and in live "Dilettants" discussing program. The survey asked if Leningrad should have been surrendered to the invading Nazi army in order to save hundreds of thousands of lives.{{cite web|url=http://www.newsru.com/russia/29jan2014/domdozhd.html|script-title=ru:Телеканал "Дождь" начали отключать в регионах, Синдеева назвала истинную причину таких решений|trans-title=TV channel "Rain" has begun to be switched off in the regions; Sindeeva has named the true cause behind such decisions|language=ru|publisher=NEWSru.com|date=29 January 2014|access-date=26 April 2016|archive-date=8 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608062303/http://www.newsru.com/russia/29jan2014/domdozhd.html|url-status=live}}

Top state television channels frequently apply self-censorship, avoiding any controversial topics that might impact the public image of the authorities. For example, massive truck drivers protests across the country were never even mentioned in the First Channel in spite of wide coverage in local and independent media and requests of the viewers.{{cite web|url=https://tvrain.ru/articles/perv_kanal_dalnobojschiki-398730/|script-title=ru:ЗЗрители добились от Первого канала сюжета про дальнобойщиков. (Но получили не то)|trans-title=Channel One viewers managed to push for a story about truckers. (But didn't get the right story)|language=ru|website=tvrain.ru|date=22 November 2015 |access-date=26 April 2016|archive-date=29 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529044217/https://tvrain.ru/articles/perv_kanal_dalnobojschiki-398730/|url-status=live}}

The situation in the radio market is similar. Major information channels are in one way or another controlled by the state. Only four Russian radios broadcast political talk shows: Mayak, Radio Rossii, Vesti FM, and Ekho Moskvy. Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii are state-owned (Rosimushchestvo), while Ekho Moskvy is owned by the state-controlled Gazprom Media. A complete list of the audiovisual services in Russia can be found in the MAVISE Database, made by the European Audiovisual Observatory. Such list includes the ownership of TV channels and on-demand services.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rcmediafreedom.eu/Media-freedom-datasets/MAVISE-Database-on-TV-and-on-demand-audiovisual-services-in-Europe|title=MAVISE Database on TV and on-demand audiovisual services in Europe|date=1 September 2016|website=rcmediafreedom.eu|publisher=European Audiovisual Observatory|access-date=11 May 2017|archive-date=15 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515184740/https://www.rcmediafreedom.eu/Media-freedom-datasets/MAVISE-Database-on-TV-and-on-demand-audiovisual-services-in-Europe|url-status=live}}

Kommersant-Vlast, Expert, and the New Times are weeklies that provide serious analysis of the current political issues. However, they are owned by oligarchs who openly support the government. Kommersant-Vlast is produced by Kommersant Publishing House that is owned by Alisher Usmanov. Expert is a part of Expert Media Holding that is owned by Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element and a Russian state corporation—Vnesheconombank.

Most popular websites, if they are not internationally owned such as Google and Facebook, are state-owned or owned by influential businessmen such as Alexander Mamut and Alisher Usmanov.{{Cite journal|title=Internet control through ownership: the case of Russia|journal=Post-Soviet Affairs|volume=33|pages=16–33|last=Vendil Pallin|first=Carolina|date=4 January 2016|publisher=Post- Soviet Affairs|doi=10.1080/1060586X.2015.1121712|s2cid=220305877}}

A law signed in 2014 restricted foreign ownership stakes in any Russian media assets to 20% by early 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/politics/2014/09/24/new_law_further_restricts_foreign_media_investment_40085.html|title=New law further restricts foreign media investment|last=Ibragimova|first=Galiya|date=24 September 2014|website=rbth.com|publisher=Russia Beyond the Headlines|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228102003/http://rbth.com/politics/2014/09/24/new_law_further_restricts_foreign_media_investment_40085.html|url-status=live}} As a consequence, in 2015, the German Springer Publishing House sold the Russian edition of Forbes, and Finland's Sanoma sold its stakes in the business newspaper Vedomosti and the English-language publication, The Moscow Times. Russian media executives bought the stakes in both transactions. The Moscow Times subsequently switched from daily to weekly publication, and its chief editor resigned due to conflicts with the new owner. The new publisher of Forbes said that the magazine would carry fewer stories on politics and focus on business and economics.{{Cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/russia|title=Freedom of the Press 2016- Russia|date=2016|website=freedomhouse.org|publisher=Freedom House|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620174443/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/russia|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/society/2015/04/28/new_russian_media_ownership_law_how_will_changes_affect_foreign_playe_45617.html|title=New Russian media ownership law: How will changes affect foreign players?|last=Sinelschikova|first=Yekaterina|date=28 April 2015|website=rbth.com|publisher=Russia Beyond the Headlines|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=25 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325101133/http://rbth.com/society/2015/04/28/new_russian_media_ownership_law_how_will_changes_affect_foreign_playe_45617.html|url-status=live}}

As reported by Clifford J. Levy in a 2008 New York Times article, all Vladimir Putin's opponents are being made to vanish from Russian television. They are blacklisted and not allowed to appear in television shows. In one example, a presentation critical of Putin's policies has been digitally erased.[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/world/europe/03russia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin It Isn’t Magic: Putin Opponents Vanish From TV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204012151/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/world/europe/03russia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin |date=4 February 2017 }} The New York Times, 3 June 2008. [http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/06/03/world/europe/03russia.html Related discussion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605234851/http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/06/03/world/europe/03russia.html |date=5 June 2008 }}. This is the case of Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, two powerful Russian oligarchs in the 1990s. Berezovsky had invested in the former public broadcaster ORT's first channel while Gusinsky, created Russia's first independent TV station, NTV. After Putin's power takeover, the media owned by Berezovsky and Gusinsky were the first victims of this "purge." Tax controls, raids by armed men, searches and arrests forced their bosses to flee the country and to sell their media outlets.

On 16 October 2009, Kommersant newspaper reported that the owner of private television channels REN TV and Channel 5 had made changes to the managing structures of the channels. Referring to an anonymous source, Kommersant stated that as the result these channels would cease to broadcast independent news; instead, since 2010 they would receive the news from the state channel RT (known as Russia Today until 2009). As Kommersant wrote, "the Channel 5 and REN-TV are the only Russian TV channels today whose editorial policy is different than state news. Only through these channels opposition politicians are aired, as well as other events adversed by authorities are reported." However, the head of a REN-TV analytical news program Week Marianna Maksimovskaya was quoted by Kommersant as saying she held optimistic about the new executive director of REN-TV and sure that its editorial policy would not be altered.[http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1256315 REN-TV and Channel 5 will get different news] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019094753/http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1256315 |date=19 October 2009 }}, by Kommersant, 16 October 2008

On 19 October 2009, press secretary of REN-TV channel Nazarov asserted that REN-TV and Channel 5 will receive from the RT network "exclusively technological support", and the state channel will impose no influence on the informational part of the news.[http://www.lenta.ru/news/2009/10/19/rentv/ REN-TV will retain its own news] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021061803/http://www.lenta.ru/news/2009/10/19/rentv/ |date=21 October 2009 }}, by lenta.ru, 19 October 2009

On 22 October 2009, Alexander Orjonikize, a former head of REN-TV, and now CEO of National Media Group that owns TV channels in question, said that while the possibility of partnership in order to produce more saturated and interesting news is discussed, "it's important to note that whatever business strategy would be chosen in that direction, editorial policy regarding news and its informational contents will not be altered."[http://www.lenizdat.ru/a0/ru/pm1/c-1080798-0.html#1 CEO of NMG: editorial policy regarding news on Channel 5 and REN-TV won't be altered] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023134812/http://www.lenizdat.ru/a0/ru/pm1/c-1080798-0.html#1 |date=23 October 2009 }}, by Lenizdat.Ru, 22 October 2009, {{in lang|ru}}.

Channel 5 employs 1,700 people in Saint Petersburg. Its sales in 2009 accounted for US$20 million, while the expenditures exceeded 100 million. On 19 October 2009, employees of the TV channel published an open letter to the top Russian politicians, concerned over a possibility of mass dismissals.[http://www.gazeta.spb.ru/209330-0/ Employees of the Channel 5 threaten mass protests] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021065019/http://www.gazeta.spb.ru/209330-0/ |date=21 October 2009 }}, {{in lang|ru}}. On 23 October 2009, CEO of NMG-TV Vladimir Khanumyan in an interview promised no mass dismissals will take place; he also commented that "Information about Russia Today is generally some misunderstanding. I don't even understand how could it be used in our project. It's the TV channel which makes programs for the abroad audience in English and Arab languages. How does that relate to Channel 5?"[http://www.dp.ru/a/2009/10/23/Vladimir_Hanumjan_Pjatij Interview of Vladimir Khanumyan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026164711/http://www.dp.ru/a/2009/10/23/Vladimir_Hanumjan_Pjatij |date=26 October 2009 }}, Business Peterburg, 23 October 2009.

In 2016, leadership and top journalists of RBC media holding left the company following an investigation launched by the authorities into an alleged "fraud", which was widely associated with the non-mainstream coverage of political affairs and the government, including the latest Panama Papers publications on the wealth of Vladimir Putin.{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/05/13/the-dismantling-of-the-independent-news-organization-rbc|title=The dismantling of the independent news organization 'RBC': How Russia gained and today lost a great source of news – Meduza|website=Meduza|language=en-EN|access-date=2016-05-13|archive-date=4 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604101310/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/05/13/the-dismantling-of-the-independent-news-organization-rbc|url-status=live}} One journalist described the situation as "having a strong resemblance to the takeover of NTV in the early 2000s".{{Cite web|url=https://slon.ru/posts/68011|title=Reuters назвало ставшую "последней каплей" статью РБК|website=slon.ru|access-date=2016-05-13|archive-date=14 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514030845/https://slon.ru/posts/68011|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-editors-leave-rbc-media/27733125.html|title=Three Top Editors Leave Russia's RBC Media Holding|date=2016-05-13|newspaper=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|language=en|access-date=2016-05-13|archive-date=14 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514131043/http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-editors-leave-rbc-media/27733125.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://slon.ru/posts/68007|title=Журналисты РБК объявили об уходе вслед за руководством|website=slon.ru|access-date=2016-05-13|archive-date=14 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514114547/https://slon.ru/posts/68007|url-status=live}}

In 2000, prior to the presidential election, Kommersant published a long document titled "The Reform of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation", allegedly leaked from the election committee of Vladimir Putin.{{Cite web|url=http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/havighurst/cultural-academic-resources/putins-russia/reform-presidential-admin-landing/index.html|title=Reform of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation|date=May 2000|website=miamioh.edu|publisher=Miami University|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=19 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519021022/http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/havighurst/cultural-academic-resources/putins-russia/reform-presidential-admin-landing/index.html|url-status=live}} The document proposed a number of changes to government information policy, including strict centralization of mass media and suppression of criticism from both media as well as from opposition in the Duma.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

The document also offered a number of case studies and examples on how journalists or members of Duma exposing cases of corruption or suspicious purchases (e.g. foreign property) by members of the administration should be silenced with "preventive political actions", involving release of compromising personal details about the whistleblowers, journalists and protesters or organizing "spontaneous" counter-pickets in support of the administration.{{cite journal|date=5 May 2000|title=The Reform of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation|url=http://miamioh.edu/cas/_files/documents/havighurst/english-putin-reform-admin.pdf|journal=Kommersant|publisher=miamioh.edu|volume=18|access-date=26 April 2016|archive-date=23 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723220857/http://miamioh.edu/cas/_files/documents/havighurst/english-putin-reform-admin.pdf|url-status=live}} These methods were also applied to foreign journalists reporting from Russia and included ostensible surveillance, tapping of apartments and threats to relatives.{{cite web|url=http://www.stopfake.org/en/my-starring-role-in-russian-propaganda/|title=My starring role in Russian propaganda|website=StopFake.org|date=5 November 2015|access-date=5 November 2015|archive-date=8 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108084932/http://www.stopfake.org/en/my-starring-role-in-russian-propaganda/|url-status=live}}

In 2006, President of Russia Vladimir Putin commented that in the period of 1990s freedom of press in Russia "was indeed under threat, not from the former state ideology that once held a monopoly on expression, but from the dictates of oligarchic capital".[http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2006/06/05/1842_type82912type84779_106514.shtml "Speech at Opening Ceremony of the 59th World Newspaper Congress (Moscow)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418004617/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2006/06/05/1842_type82912type84779_106514.shtml |date=18 April 2007 }}, Valadimir Putin, Kremlin archive, 5 June 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2013. When asked about media freedom in 2006 interview with NBC TV channel, Putin replied: "We have more than 3,500 television and radio companies here in Russia and state participation in them is decreasing with every passing year. As for print media, there are more than 40,000 publications and we could not control them all even if we wanted to."[http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2006/07/12/1443_type82916_108525.shtml "Interview with NBC Channel"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312025450/http://kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2006/07/12/1443_type82916_108525.shtml |date=12 March 2007 }}, 12 July 2006.

In May 2008, the International Federation of Journalists welcomed signs of a "fresh start" in relations between the authorities and independent media in Russia.[http://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-calls-for-fresh-start-in-russia-as-medvedev-opens-door-to-media-dialogue IFJ Welcomes "Fresh Start" in Russia as Medvedev Opens Door to Media Dialogue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610161205/http://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-calls-for-fresh-start-in-russia-as-medvedev-opens-door-to-media-dialogue |date=10 June 2011 }}, May 2008, IFJ

In November 2008, state of the nation address President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev acknowledged problems with the Russian media:[http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/11/05/2144_type70029type82917type127286_208836.shtml Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215041214/http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/11/05/2144_type70029type82917type127286_208836.shtml |date=15 December 2013 }}, Dmitry Medvedev, Kremlin archive, 5 November 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2013.

"[A]s was the case 20 years ago, the bureaucracy still does not trust free citizens and free activity. This logic pushes it into dangerous conclusions and acts. The bureaucracy from time to time casts fear over the business world, pressuring it to keep in line and not to take what they consider wrong action, takes control of this or that media outlet, trying to stop it from saying what they consider the wrong thing, meddles in the electoral process, preventing the election of what they consider the wrong person, and puts pressure on the courts, stopping them from handing down what they consider the wrong verdict."

"Ninth, parliamentary parties should have clear guarantees that their work will be covered by the state media.

Tenth, freedom of speech should be backed up by technological innovation. Experience shows that it is practically of no use to persuade the bureaucrats to "leave the media in peace". Instead of persuading, we should work more actively to expand the free internet and digital television space. No bureaucrat can obstruct discussion on the internet or censor thousands of channels at once."

In his 2009 State of the Nation Address Dmitry Medvedev recommended all regions of the Russian Federation to pass laws on guarantees of equal media coverage of activity of parties represented in regional parliaments.[http://kremlin.ru/transcripts/5979 "Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation" (full text)] {{in lang|ru}}, ([http://eng.kremlin.ru/eng/text/themes/2009/11/121319_222694.shtml digest]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}), November 2009

In 2007, a report by professor of politics Nicolai N. Petro asserted that foreign companies owned shares in over half of all Russian broadcasting companies and not the state. According to him, the Russian state's share in the newspaper and journal market is estimated to be less than 10%, while its share in electronic media is even smaller.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070219154737/http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/IB17Ag02.html Russia as friend, not foe], By Nicolai N Petro.

Russian head of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev said in a 2005 interview that there were no differences between freedom of speech in Russia and Western countries in regards to the printed media: "there is an enormous amount of newspapers which write any sort of stuff." Speaking of electronic media, he acknowledged that they were mainly under the control of the authorities, but added that that's not a specifically Russian phenomenon.[http://www.russia-today.ru/2005/no_05/05_topic_1.htm Interview of Konstantin Kosachev] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060113045612/http://www.russia-today.ru/2005/no_05/05_topic_1.htm |date=13 January 2006 }}, 2005, {{in lang|ru}}.

According to the BBC, the Russian newspaper market offers its consumers a more diverse range of views than those same consumers can sample on the country's leading television channels.

According to Vedomosti newspaper, in 2009 Rupert Murdoch's corporation failed to sell its three popular Russian radio stations because it didn't manage to find buyers for them.[http://lenta.ru/news/2009/11/16/radio/ Murdoch didn't manage to find buyers for Russian radio stations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410014149/http://lenta.ru/news/2009/11/16/radio/ |date=10 April 2010 }}, by Lenta.Ru, 2009 {{in lang|ru}}.

In September 2024, in an interview with the Mongolian newspaper Onoodor, Vladimir Putin insisted that freedom of speech and freedom of the press were flourishing in Russia, saying "We are well aware of the need for pluralism and openness". Putin said the media is free in Russia, but journalists must obey the law.{{cite news |title=Putin insists there is press freedom in Russia as long as journalists obey law |url=https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/09/02/putin-insists-there-is-press-freedom-in-russia-as-long-as-journalists-obey-law-en-news |work=Novaya Gazeta Europe |date=2 September 2024}}

{{main|Media portrayal of the Russo-Ukrainian War|Russian 2022 war censorship laws}}

The Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea, in 2014, led to a reinforcement of propaganda and disinformation from state-owned media outlets, including by alteration or misidentification of images, stories distortion (e.g. Crucified boy reportage){{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/03/17/the-propagandist-s-translation-dictionary|title=The propagandist's translation dictionary: How Russia's pro-Kremlin media 'translates' the news|publisher=Meduza.io|access-date=17 March 2016|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325135607/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/03/17/the-propagandist-s-translation-dictionary|url-status=live}} or invented from scratch. According to the war reporter Arkadiy Babchenko, Russian mass media played a significant role in actually starting the war in Donbas stating that "this is the first war in history started exclusively by Goebbels-like propaganda".{{cite web|url=https://openrussia.org/post/view/4225/|script-title=ru:Аркадий Бабченко: "Если бы не российское телевидение, этой войны бы не было"|trans-title=Arkadiy Babchenko, "If it were not for Russian TV, this war would not have occurred"|language=ru|publisher=OpenRussia|date=15 April 2015|access-date=24 April 2015|first=Arkadiy|last=Babchenko|title=Search|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612151531/https://openrussia.org/post/view/4225/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.stopfake.org/en/supporting-a-war-that-isn-t-russian-public-opinion-and-the-ukraine-conflict/|title=Supporting a War that isn't: Russian Public Opinion and the Ukraine Conflict|publisher=StopFake.org|date=10 September 2015|access-date=12 September 2015|first=Denis|last=Volkov|archive-date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530085400/https://www.stopfake.org/en/supporting-a-war-that-isn-t-russian-public-opinion-and-the-ukraine-conflict/|url-status=live}}

Independent coverage of war-related issues led to official pressures on media outlets. Lenta.ru was warned by Roskomnadzor in March 2014 after publishing an interview with a member of Right Sector; the following day the owner replaced the editor with a pro-governmental one, and 40 employees resigned in protest. In October 2014, Ekho Moskvy was warned by Roskomnadzor after airing first-hand testimonies of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, allegedly "justifying war crimes".

In March 2016 Sergey Shoygu when speaking at a Russian media prize ceremony described information in general as "yet another weapon, yet another unit of the Armed Forces. These weapons can be used for good or bad".{{cite web|url=http://rg.ru/2015/03/27/shoigu-site.html|title=Сергей Шойгу наградил победителей конкурса "МЕДИА-АС"|website=Российская газета|date=27 March 2015 |access-date=17 March 2016|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325014535/http://rg.ru/2015/03/27/shoigu-site.html|url-status=live}}

The Russian censorship apparatus Roskomnadzor ordered media organizations to delete stories that describe the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine as an "assault", "invasion", or a "declaration of war".{{cite news |date=26 February 2022 |title=Russia Tells Media to Delete Stories Mentioning Ukraine 'Invasion' |work=Newsweek |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-tells-media-delete-stories-mentioning-ukraine-invasion-1682973 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220227/https://www.newsweek.com/russia-tells-media-delete-stories-mentioning-ukraine-invasion-1682973 |archive-date=27 February 2022}}{{cbignore}} Roskomnadzor launched an investigation against the Novaya Gazeta, Echo of Moscow, inoSMI, MediaZona, New Times, TV Rain, and other Russian media outlets for publishing "inaccurate information about the shelling of Ukrainian cities and civilian casualties in Ukraine as a result of the actions of the Russian Army".{{cite news |title=Russian Government Orders Media Outlets To Delete Stories Referring To 'Invasion' Or 'Assault' On Ukraine |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/roskomnadzor-russia-delete-stories-invasion/31724838.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220227/https://www.rferl.org/a/roskomnadzor-russia-delete-stories-invasion/31724838.html|archive-date=27 February 2022 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL |date=26 February 2022}}{{cbignore}} On 1 March 2022, Russian authorities blocked access to Echo of Moscow and TV Rain, Russia's last independent TV station,{{cite news |title=Russia's Only Independent TV Station Won't Censor the Ukraine War |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/russia-ukraine-invasion-dozhd-tv/| url-status=live | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgmakx/russia-ukraine-invasion-dozhd-tv| archive-date=2022-03-01 |work=Vice |date=28 February 2022}}{{cbignore}} claiming that they were spreading "deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel" as well as "information calling for extremist activity" and "violence".{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/01/russia-blocks-2-independent-media-sites-over-war-coverage-a76693| url-status=live | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/01/russia-blocks-2-independent-media-sites-over-war-coverage-a76693| archive-date=2022-03-01 |title=Russia Blocks 2 Independent Media Sites Over War Coverage |website=The Moscow Times |date=1 March 2022}}{{cbignore}} Additionally, Roskomnadzor threatened to block access to the Russian Wikipedia in Russia over the article "Вторжение России на Украину (2022)" ("Russia's invasion of Ukraine (2022)"), claiming that the article contains "illegally distributed information", including "reports about numerous casualties among service personnel of the Russian Federation and also the civilian population of Ukraine, including children".{{Cite news |date=2022-03-01 |title=Moscow threatens to block Russian-language Wikipedia over invasion article |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/moscow-threatens-to-block-russian-language-wikipedia-over-invasion-article| url-status=live | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/moscow-threatens-to-block-russian-language-wikipedia-over-invasion-article| archive-date=2022-03-01 |access-date=2022-03-02}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/russia-threatens-to-block-wikipedia-for-stating-facts-about-its-war-casualties-editors-say/|title=Russia Threatens to Block Wikipedia for Stating Facts About Its War Casualties, Editors Say|date=March 2, 2022|author=Samantha Cole|website=Vice|access-date=2 March 2022|archive-date=2 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302065323/https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvnpq5/russia-threatens-to-block-wikipedia-for-stating-facts-about-its-war-casualties-editors-say|url-status=live}}

On 4 March 2022, President Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "knowingly false information" about the Russian military and its operations, leading to some media outlets to stop reporting on Ukraine.{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/04/putin-signs-law-introducing-jail-terms-for-fake-news-on-army-a76768|title=Putin Signs Law Introducing Jail Terms for 'Fake News' on Army|website=The Moscow Times|date=4 March 2022|access-date=6 March 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306232328/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/04/putin-signs-law-introducing-jail-terms-for-fake-news-on-army-a76768|url-status=live}}

On 4 March 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked access to several foreign media outlets, including BBC News Russian, Voice of America, RFE/RL, Deutsche Welle and Meduza,{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russia-restricts-access-bbc-russian-service-radio-liberty-ria-2022-03-04/|title=Russia blocks access to BBC and Voice of America websites|website=Reuters|date=4 March 2022|access-date=6 March 2022|archive-date=5 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305001129/https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russia-restricts-access-bbc-russian-service-radio-liberty-ria-2022-03-04/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/04/facebook-multiple-media-sites-partially-down-in-russia-afp-ngo-a76750|title=Facebook, Multiple Media Sites Partially Down in Russia – AFP, NGO|website=The Moscow Times|date=4 March 2022|access-date=6 March 2022|archive-date=4 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304221519/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/04/facebook-multiple-media-sites-partially-down-in-russia-afp-ngo-a76750|url-status=live}} as well as Facebook and Twitter.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/04/russia-completely-blocks-access-to-facebook-and-twitter |title=Russia blocks access to Facebook and Twitter |date=4 March 2022 |website=The Guardian |last=Milmo |first=Dan |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305200643/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/04/russia-completely-blocks-access-to-facebook-and-twitter |url-status=live }}

Novaya Gazeta and its editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, TV Rain and its CEO Natalya Sindeyeva filed an application against Russia (No.11884/22) with the European Court of Human Rights. On 3 March 2022, Dmitry Muratov requested urgent interim measures, namely, to indicate to the Russian government not to interfere with lawful activity of Russian mass media, including Novaya Gazeta, covering the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, in particular, to refrain from blocking information items and materials containing opinions different from the official point of view of the Russian authorities; and to abstain from full blocking and termination of the activity of Russian mass media, including Novaya Gazeta. On 8 March 2022, the European Court of Human Rights indicated to the Russian government to abstain until further notice from actions and decisions aimed at full blocking and termination of the activities of Novaya Gazeta, and from other actions that in the current circumstances could deprive Novaya Gazeta of the enjoyment of its rights guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.{{cite web|title=Urgent interim measure in the case of the Russian daily newspaper Novaya Gazeta|date=10 March 2022|language=en|publisher=European Court of Human Rights|url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press?i=003-7282927-9922567|access-date=13 March 2022|archive-date=14 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314034447/https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press?i=003-7282927-9922567|url-status=live}}

On 5 April 2022, the Denis Diderot Committee launched a call for EU and EUTELSAT IGO sanctions against NTV Plus (Gazprom Media Holding) and Tricolor, two Russian pay-TV platforms operating on Eutelsat 36 E satellites arguing that 8 international news channels were cancelled of the offer in the context of the war in Ukraine.Calls for sanctions on Russian pay-TV Satellite platforms Trikolor and NTV+, Broadband TV News https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2022/04/06/calls-for-sanctions-on-russian-pay-tv-satellite-platforms-trikolor-and-ntv/Report and petition of the Denis Diderot Committee https://histv3.wixsite.com/denisdiderot

According to the World Press Freedom Review 2008 by International Press Institute, the pressure on Russian independent media outlets and their employees increased considerably in 2007. The government use variety of methods to control of broadcasters, to sideline critical journalists, and to intimidate them into self-censorship.

According to International Press Institute, even bolder publications have to curtail their coverage to avoid problems with the authorities.

Selective use of bureaucratic regulations were employed to inhibit media outlets, vague laws were passed to restrict independent activities, politically motivated criminal investigations against critics were used, independent journalists were imprisoned on trumped-up charges and their media outlets were closed, controlling interests in independent news outlets were purchased, aggressive harassment of journalists by security services took place and the failure to bring justice in the murders of journalists and in other violent attacks against the press prevailed.

Although the press has not given in without a struggle and some key independent outlets, reporters, and editors continue to speak and publish, state television and a limited selection of other "loyal" outlets dominate today’s Russian media landscape. With the mainstream press increasingly toeing the Kremlin line, government restrictions have expanded to encroach upon other cultural spaces and modes of expression, including social activism, literature, art, and theater.

{{further|Russian foreign agent law}}

On 25 November 2017, Putin signed into law new measures allowing authorities to list foreign media outlets as "foreign agents", comparing it to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act requirement that forces Russia Today to register as a Russian foreign agent in the U.S. The law allows Moscow to force foreign media to brand their own news provided to Russians as the work of "foreign agents".{{cite news|title=Russia's Putin signs 'foreign agents' media law|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-media-restrictions/russias-putin-signs-foreign-agents-media-law-idUSKBN1DP0I2?il=0|access-date=25 November 2017|work=Reuters|date=2017|archive-date=25 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125222714/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-media-restrictions/russias-putin-signs-foreign-agents-media-law-idUSKBN1DP0I2?il=0|url-status=live}} The law started to be enforced on large scale in 2020 and 2021, when a number of media outlets have received orders to include large "foreign agent" statement in the beginning of their publications. The media has been chosen inconsistently from the point of view of the law, which lists foreign financing and political activity as primary criteria — some media that fall within these criteria have not received orders (these were pro-Kremlin media), while some organisations like Memorial that do not engage in political activity were designated as "foreign agents". Most notable independent media that received orders were Meduza and TV Rain, even though their "foreign funding" was limited to advertising contracts.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-31 |title="Taking control?" Updated RSF report on Internet censorship in Russia {{!}} Reporters without borders |url=https://rsf.org/en/news/taking-control-updated-rsf-report-internet-censorship-russia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902184020/https://rsf.org/en/news/taking-control-updated-rsf-report-internet-censorship-russia |archive-date=2 September 2021 |access-date=2021-09-02 |website=RSF |language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2021-09-11|title=Putin's crackdown: how Russia's journalists became 'foreign agents'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/11/putins-crackdown-how-russias-journalists-became-foreign-agents|access-date=2021-09-28|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227170521/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/11/putins-crackdown-how-russias-journalists-became-foreign-agents|url-status=live}}

As stated by IPI, the Russian Government use selectively politicized regulations and bureaucratic harassment to inhibit media outlets. Main legal tools used here are anti-extremism laws (described above) and foreign agents law.

In 2008, Amnesty International criticized the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections as "a clampdown on the freedoms of assembly and expression", stating that "the authorities have violently dispersed some opposition demonstrations, while pro-government events have gone ahead without interference."

In 2015, PolitPress initiated a database of various forms of repression applied to journalists and activists in Russia, counting overall 302 of those subject to various forms of repression, including 17 journalists.{{cite web|title = PolitPressing.org • политические преследования в России|url = http://politpressing.org/|website = PolitPressing.org|access-date = 18 June 2015|archive-date = 18 June 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150618214606/http://politpressing.org/|url-status = live}} Memorial has published a list of political prisoners in Russia, that also includes journalists.{{cite web|url=http://www.nhc.no/filestore/Dokumenter/Politiske_fanger/Memoriallistpoliticalprisoners.pdf|title=List of Political Prisoners in the Russian Federation|work=Norwegian Helsinki Committee|date=1 June 2015|access-date=26 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305091557/http://www.nhc.no/filestore/Dokumenter/Politiske_fanger/Memoriallistpoliticalprisoners.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

Russia's Law on Providing Access to Information on the Activities of State Bodies and Bodies of Local Self-Government, was enacted by the lower house of the legislature (State Duma) on 21 January 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/17759|title=Federal Law "On Providing Access to Information on the Activities of Government Bodies and Bodies of Local Self-Government", No. 8-FZ, February 9, 2009|date=9 February 2009|website=legislationline.org|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025183457/http://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/17759|url-status=live}} The law positively guarantees the rights of Russian citizens to request and receive information, outlines a procedure for such requests, and determines government responsibility for providing such information. Such adoption was welcomed by the Human Rights Committee of United Nations in 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/co/CCPR.C.RUS.CO.6.pdf|title=CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT. Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee.|date=30 October 2009|website=www2.ohchr.org|publisher=UN Human Rights Committee|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=12 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712105322/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/co/CCPR.C.RUS.CO.6.pdf|url-status=live}}

However, even if the right to information is also legally guaranteed in Russia by the first Article of the Russian Law on Mass Media (27 December 1991) and by Article 29 of the 1993 Constitution, the realm of information is characterized by secrecy rather than openness.{{Cite web|url=http://www.right2info.org/constitutional-protections/constitutional-protections|title=CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION|date=9 January 2012|website=right2info.org|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422040124/http://www.right2info.org/constitutional-protections/constitutional-protections|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm|title=The Constitution of the Russian Federation|date=12 December 1993|website=constitution.ru|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=6 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606071041/http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm|url-status=live}} The Law on Mass Media assigns a direct right to receive information only to mass media, while Russian citizens have the right to receive reliable information on the state activities and representatives via the mass media (Art. 38.1). State officials, in turn, are obliged to inform the media about their activities: on demand, but also actively.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/1608962|title=Limited Access to Information as a Means of Censorship in Post-Communist Russia|issue=2|pages=65–81|last=De Smaele|first=Hedwig|date=7 November 2014|journal=Javnost - the Public|volume=11|access-date=15 May 2017|doi=10.1080/13183222.2004.11008854|s2cid=145240560|archive-date=17 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317151631/https://www.academia.edu/1608962|url-status=live}}

According to the Global Right to Information Rating (GRIR), the Russian legal framework (including jurisprudence) does not recognise a fundamental right of access to information.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rti-rating.org/view_country/?country_name=Russia|title=Global Right to Information Rating- Russia|website=rti-rating.org|publisher=Access Info Europe, Centre for Law and Democracy|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008063338/http://www.rti-rating.org/view_country/?country_name=Russia|archive-date=8 October 2016|url-status=dead}} The GRIR appointed score 1 to Russia, where 6 is the maximum possible score with regard to the right to access information. However, when considered together with the scope and the requesting procedures provided by the Russian Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the GRIR assigned Russia a total score of 98, out of the maximum score of 150. The Penal Code (Art. 144) fixes high penalties for unlawful refusal of information and for hindering the professional activity of journalists. The right to access public information is particularly undermined by the legal exception valid for refusing the information's disclosure, namely the category of "confidential information" (commercial, state, or military secrets) is open to wide interpretations.{{Cite web|url=http://www.right2info.org/resources/publications/national-security-page/european-questionnaires/russia-ivan-pavlov/view|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515183701/https://www.right2info.org/resources/publications/national-security-page/european-questionnaires/russia-ivan-pavlov/view|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 May 2018|title=REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION National Questionnaire European Consultation|date=21 September 2012|website=right2info.org|access-date=15 May 2017}} The Law "on state secrets" was adopted on 21 July 1993 (amended in October 1997). In addition to a list of categories of information that could be classified as state secrets, the President of Russia can elaborate and approve such list through the publication of a public decree.

Svetlana Mironyuk commented to Vasily Gatov that Russian media since the early 2000s is divided into three groups: outsiders, our guys, and in-betweeners.{{cite news | last = Gatov | first = Vasily | title = How the Kremlin and the Media Ended Up in Bed Together | url = https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/how-the-kremlin-and-the-media-ended-up-in-bed-together-44663 | newspaper = The Moscow Times | date = 11 March 2015 | access-date = 5 December 2017 | archive-date = 7 December 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171207214848/https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/how-the-kremlin-and-the-media-ended-up-in-bed-together-44663 | url-status = live }}

• "Outsiders." {{Lang|ru-latn|Vedomosti}}, {{Lang|ru-latn|Kommersant}}, Forbes, {{Lang|ru-latn|Novaya Gazeta}}, Lenta.ru (until March 2014), TV Rain, The Moscow Times, and others. These have a more Western media approach to covering events. These media sources are outside the official Kremlin viewpoint.
• "Our guys." Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia-24, VGTRK, and the Aram Gabrelyanov media family — Zhizn, Lifenews.ru and Izvestia. This group can access exclusive interviews of Kremlin officials but the Kremlin expects certain "services" in return. To keep this group inline, it is up to several central figures such as Alexei Gromov and Mikhail Lesin, who began the task, and later they were joined by first Vladislav Surkov, and then his replacement Vyacheslav Volodin. To replace the Kremlin handlers, special yellow telephones, which are "media hotlines" to the Kremlin, have been installed on the "Our guys" editors desks since the mid-2000s.
• "In-betweeners." the commercial radio station Ekho Moskvy (majority owned by Gazprom-Media) and the Interfax news agency may not always have access to Kremlin authorities, but occasionally can have a story.

In 2015, the FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation), the principal security agency of Russia, proposed a new regulation that will restrict access to public property registers, that were previously frequently used by whistle-blowers to expose multimillion-dollar mansions belonging to public officials who could not afford them from their official salary.{{cite web|title = Daching: How to Get Beaten Up in the Russian Countryside {{!}} News| date=10 August 2014 |url = http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/daching-how-to-get-beaten-up-in-the-russian-countryside/504863.html|access-date = 10 July 2015|archive-date = 11 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150711123457/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/daching-how-to-get-beaten-up-in-the-russian-countryside/504863.html|url-status = live}} The regulation was proposed shortly after the media exposed an undeclared mansion belonging to FSB vice-director Sergey Smirnov using the public registers.{{cite web|title = ФСБ предложила засекретить данные о владельцах недвижимости после громких разоблачений госслужащих|url = http://realty.newsru.com/article/10jul2015/fsb_dostup|website = realty.newsru.com| date=10 July 2015 |access-date = 10 July 2015|archive-date = 11 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150711081211/http://realty.newsru.com/article/10jul2015/fsb_dostup|url-status = live}}{{cite web|title = "Второго человека в ФСБ" обвинили в укрытии элитной недвижимости, которая может стоить его дохода за 10 лет|url = http://realty.newsru.com/article/30Jan2015/fsb_elitkv|website = realty.newsru.com| date=30 January 2015 |access-date = 10 July 2015|archive-date = 11 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150711121202/http://realty.newsru.com/article/30Jan2015/fsb_elitkv|url-status = live}} In the same year, a group of deputies proposed a new law that would penalize "anti-Russian" or "anti-patriotic" statements. The law was criticized as unconstitutional and vague due to lack of definition of what these terms would really mean.{{cite web|url = http://www.interpretermag.com/anti-russian-a-dangerously-unconstitutional-update-of-anti-soviet-reznik-says/|title = 'Anti-Russian,' a Dangerously Unconstitutional Update of 'Anti-Soviet,' Reznik Says|date = 27 July 2015|publisher = The Interpreter Magazine|access-date = 4 August 2015|archive-date = 1 August 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150801044845/http://www.interpretermag.com/anti-russian-a-dangerously-unconstitutional-update-of-anti-soviet-reznik-says/|url-status = live}}

Another regulation enacted in 2015 is based on the European right to be forgotten concept, but without any of the safeguards for the public interest and freedom of speech. According to some experts, the regulation's scope is to silence publications about specific corrupted politicians, even if the accusations were true and confirmed in courts.{{cite web|title = Legal Analysis: Russia's Right To Be Forgotten · Article 19|url = https://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/38099/en/legal-analysis:-russia's-right-to-be-forgotten|website = www.article19.org|access-date = 5 November 2015|archive-date = 1 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151001221542/https://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/38099/en/legal-analysis%3A-russia%27s-right-to-be-forgotten|url-status = live}} Public land registers were also anonymized to hide names of property owners after they were frequently used by watchdogs to question unexplainable wealth of public officers.{{Cite web|url=https://navalny.com/p/4905/|title=Знакомьтесь, сыновья генпрокурора - ЛСДУ3 и ЙФЯУ9|website=Алексей Навальный|access-date=10 June 2016|archive-date=9 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609203236/https://navalny.com/p/4905/|url-status=live}}

In 2015, the non-profit association RosOtvet, launched an online service to facilitate requests for information to authorities.{{Cite web|url=http://rosotvet.ru/aboutrosotvet/|script-title=ru:РосОтвет|website=rosotvet.ru|publisher=RosOtvet|language=ru|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712172426/http://rosotvet.ru/aboutrosotvet/|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|E-Government in Russia}}

Beyond the duty to disclose public information upon request, public authorities in Russia have an affirmative obligation to publish information (i.e. proactive disclosure). Such information consists in:

• Full and brief official names of the government body, postal address, email for requests/messages from citizens, reference phone numbers - usually published and actualized information on powers and competence;
• Information on head officials (full names, other information - upon agreement);
• Official symbols;
• Approved forms (templates) for applications and other documents acceptable for review by the government body;
• Information on services provided by the government body in the field of licensing works performed abroad and using information containing state secret;
• Procedure for entering state service in the government body;
• Procedure for submission and review of applications from individuals and organizations Procedure, address, and schedule for reception of individuals and organizations;
• Name of the government body's structure department in charge of reception, contact data (email, reference phones).

Proactive disclosure of information by public bodies is provided by a series of laws, many of them aimed at contrasting corruption.{{Cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://infometer.org/analitika/vroiv_2015/baza_npa&sandbox=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206125656/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://infometer.org/analitika/vroiv_2015/baza_npa&sandbox=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 February 2021|title=The regulatory and legal framework for the study of the openness of the highest regional executive bodies|website=translate.google.com|publisher=Infometer|access-date=15 May 2017}} One of them is the Russian Federation Federal Law "On providing access to information on the activities of state bodies and local governments", adopted by the State Duma on 21 January 2009.

The Russian legislation provides several ways for government bodies to publish their open data: it can be done through the federal Open Data Portal (data.gov.ru),{{Cite web|url=http://data.gov.ru/frontpage?language=en|title=Open Data Portal- Russia|website=data.gov.ru|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523113949/http://data.gov.ru/frontpage?language=en|url-status=live}} dedicating a section on a government body's own official website or on a special open data portal, regional or municipal.

In 2016, the association Infometer{{Cite web|url=http://en.infometer.org/|title=Infometer|website=en.infometer.org/|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=1 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601213140/http://en.infometer.org/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://od.infometer.org/?lg=en/|title=Infometer|website=od.infometer.org|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=28 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228104356/http://od.infometer.org/?lg=en%2F|url-status=live}} has audited open data of 166 websites belonging to administrations of the largest Russian cities, those populated over 100,000. This study revealed that most cities' administrations do not publish open data:

• most of those publishing open data do it at their own resources that is not always the best solution;
• quite few city administrations approve normative acts regarding open data;
• the very few city administrations work with the community of open data software developers.{{Cite web|url=http://en.infometer.org/analitika/city-od-2016|title=Russian Cities' Open Data: Audit Results – 2016|website=en.infometer.org|publisher=Infometer|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109195749/http://en.infometer.org/analitika/city-od-2016|archive-date=9 November 2017|url-status=dead}}

73 out of the 166 cities under survey do publish open data. They observe the requirements on open data publication for 47.9%.{{Cite web|url=http://en.infometer.org/analitika/cities-od-map|title=Russian Cities' Open Data Map|date=March 2016|website=en.infometer.org|publisher=Infometer|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109195744/http://en.infometer.org/analitika/cities-od-map|archive-date=9 November 2017|url-status=dead}}

Infometer, from July to October 2014, made an audit of compliance of various level courts' official websites with the Federal Law "On Providing Access to Information on the Activities of Courts in the Russian Federation" No. 262-FZ from 22 Dec 2008. The experts focused on the openness of information on Russian general jurisdiction courts' activities, focusing on online publication of templates for documents used for filing applications to courts.{{Cite web|url=http://en.infometer.org/analitika/informational-openness-of-russian-judicial-websites-general-jurisdiction-courts|title=Informational Openness of Russian Judicial Websites: General Jurisdiction Courts|date=October 2014|website=en.infometer.org|publisher=Infometer|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109195759/http://en.infometer.org/analitika/informational-openness-of-russian-judicial-websites-general-jurisdiction-courts|archive-date=9 November 2017|url-status=dead}} The results showed that, with regard to the Supreme Court of Russia, information is available at 24.1%. Referring to Regional Court, out of the 85 examined their openness level appears to be 42.4%. Finally, with regard to First Instance courts, their openness was 31%.

With regard to open data, as to 2015 the Infometer association calculated that 69 Russian regions publish open data and for 36.6% at average regions observe requirements for open data publication. Most of these open data are published in the governmental field.

{{Portal|Media|Russia|Freedom of speech}}

• Human rights in Russia
• {{section link|Mat (Russian profanity)|Legal issues}}
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• Media freedom in the United States
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• Political repression of cyber-dissidents § Russia
• Russian Internet blacklist
• Telecommunications in Russia

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.mmdc.ru/|title=Mass Media Defence Center|website=mmdc.ru|access-date=15 May 2017}}
• {{Cite web|url=https://rsf.org/en/russia|title=World Press Freedom Index 2017, Reporters Without Borders: Russia|website=rsf.org/|access-date=15 May 2017}}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.russianmediamarket.com/RussianMediaFund/index.shtml|title=The Russia Media Fund|website=russianmediamarket.com|access-date=15 May 2017}}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.rcmediafreedom.eu/Publications/Books/Russian-Mass-Media-and-Changing-Values|title=Russian Mass Media and Changing Values|last1=Rosenholm|first1=Arja|last2=Nordenstreng|first2=Kaarle|author-link2=Kaarle Nordenstreng|website=rcmediafreedom.eu|access-date=15 May 2017|last3=Trubina|first3=Elena|archive-date=20 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520173023/https://www.rcmediafreedom.eu/Publications/Books/Russian-Mass-Media-and-Changing-Values|url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite web|url=http://transparency.org.ru/|title=Transparency International Russia|website=transparency.org.ru/|access-date=15 May 2017}}
• [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010&country=7904 Freedom House 2010 Press Survey: Russia]
• [http://calvertjournal.com/features/show/2228/russian-media-guide-to-the-troubled-world-of-independent-journalism A guide to the troubled world of independent Russian media], The Calvert Journal, April 2014
• {{Cite web|url=http://freedominfo.org/documents/national_report_foia_russia.pdf|title=НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ ДОКЛАД О ДОСТУПЕ К ИНФОРМАЦИИ О ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ОРГАНОВ ВЛАСТИ В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ (Access to Information: State Secrets and Human Rights)|date=September 2008|website=freedominfo.org|publisher=Institute for Information Freedom Development (IIFD)|access-date=15 May 2017}}
• {{cite episode|title=Putin's War at Home|series=Frontline|series-link=Frontline (American TV program)|network=PBS|station=WGBH|date=1 November 2022|season=41|number=4|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/putins-war-at-home/|access-date=3 October 2023}}
• {{cite episode|title=Putin vs. the Press|series=Frontline|series-link=Frontline (American TV program)|network=PBS|station=WGBH|date=26 September 2023|season=42|number=2|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/putin-vs-the-press/|access-date=20 September 2023}}

{{Asia topic|Freedom of the press in}}

{{Europe topic|Freedom of the press in}}

{{Russia topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedom Of The Press In Russia}}

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Category:Human rights in Russia

Category:Mass media in Russia

Category:Censorship in Russia