Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a set of bills that will make it illegal to spread “fake news.”
Prosecutors can direct their complaints about online media to the state, which can block access to websites if the offending material isn’t taken down. “In other words, it significantly expands the repressive power of Russia’s repressive apparatus. This may be compared to the Stalin’s Troika, a commission of three for express judgment in the Soviet Union during the time of Joseph Stalin who issued sentences to people after simplified, speedy investigations and without a public and fair trial,” she added.
Critics have said that the legislation amounts to “direct censorship,” and a petition saying as much was, as the Moscow Times noted, signed by more than 100 people, including Ludmila Ulitskaya, a well-known novelist and short-story writer. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “This sphere of fake news, insulting and so on, is regulated fairly harshly in many countries of the world including Europe. It is therefore, of course, necessary to do it in our country too.
Isn’t Russian democracy wonderful?
Well, that ain't fake news! Bring on the dictator!
He comes the real Czar, just in time for the Mueller report.
CNN and CBC would be done