
Russia’s Duma approved some of the most repressive laws in post-Soviet history - walterbell
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/06/24/russia-s-state-duma-just-approved-some-of-the-most-repressive-laws-in-post-soviet-history
======
morsch
Seems like _every country_ is busy approving some of the most repressive laws
in post-Soviet history. How do these laws compare with the legislation in
other countries? Or even proposed legislation, that was either averted by
civil society or is still being wrangled over.

For instance, _Justifying terrorism on social media_ is also a crime in
Germany (§ 282a StGB), although I can't comment on the exact conditions and
the maximum penalty is two years, not seven. And data retention was
reintroduced (after being abolished for constitutional reasons), but it only
covers metadata and the retention length is much shorter (weeks, as opposed to
years).

~~~
YeahRight16
>> For instance, Justifying terrorism on social media is also a crime in
Germany

The only difference is in Russia you would be better careful when you "like"
posts of opposition on Facebook. Because someone who writes about corruption
of the government can "turn into" terrorist any minute. And then all his/her
friends and followers will be under attack.

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lossolo
Democracy doesn't work in most middle east nations, it doesn't work in Russia
also, they had democracy in 90s it ended with organized crime ruling the
nation, killing politics, pensions not being payed etc. They have enough of
democracy. Putin has 80-90% support in the nation. You know how many people
are protesting ? Around ~10k max in Moscow in 146 mil nation. And i am writing
that as liberal person that supports democracy. Liberal democracy is not
panacea for everything.

~~~
jdimov10
Bulgaria has democracy... Since the communist regime fell in the 90's, the
country has been ruled exclusively by the offspring of former communist
leaders, in a way that makes the Sicilian mafia look like amateurs. Everything
of value in the country (assets, manufacturing, agriculture) has been looted
and the money stashed in private accounts abroad. The majority of people who
still live there are starving and living in miserable conditions - everyone
with half a brain and some saved (or borrowed) money has long left the country
(more than 30% of the native population, in my estimates) and is unlikely to
ever come back. Those who remain are primarily from the Turkish and Gypsy
(aka. "Roma") minorities - people who are consistently bribed at "democratic"
elections with (wait for it...) cheap street food. Throw them a burger,
they'll vote for whoever you want. As many times as you want :)

But, yea, it's a EU country... in NATO and all that.. modern, democratic..
Long live democracy.

~~~
openasocket
That's all bad, but what would you propose instead of democracy?

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jdimov10
Putin.

Like it or not, that's the only answer. A VERY strong, totalitarian leader who
fully disregards his own people AND foreign interests, while having at least
some interest in improving the economy of the country, no matter what it
takes. And, sure, benefiting tremendously in the process, but if you ask me -
well deserved.

~~~
guard-of-terra
You can take him, we no longer have need. When can you come? Better bring a
truck.

Seriously tho. Did you notice a lot of Russians in Bulgaria recently? Living,
buying property, being annoying? Why did you think they left Russia and come
to Bulgaria? Couldn't stand the awesomness?

What Putin did all these years: spent oil dollars that suddently surged,
increasing wages without caring for productivity. Invited millions of Muslim
migrants from neighbouring countries while young/educated Russians were
leaving. Demolished the remnants of elections system and separation of
branches of governnment. He also lost Ukraine and had the best international
strategy of buying allies for cash.

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r721
Putin signed these laws today:

[https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/07/07/vladimir-putin-signs-
co...](https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/07/07/vladimir-putin-signs-
controversial-anti-terrorist-legislation)

Also related:

[https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/07/07/putin-gives-federal-
sec...](https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/07/07/putin-gives-federal-security-
agents-two-weeks-to-produce-encryption-keys-for-the-internet)

~~~
duaneb
This only makes me happier Apple made a stand against backdooring. These laws
are precisely the fears they expressed—that foreign countries would demand
similar things that the FBI did and that Apple would have very little room to
avoid bowing to the same demands.

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serg_chernata
This is how Russia treats their own people. Why some individuals thought
Russia was not involved in the current conflict in Ukraine is beyond me. All
the evidence aside, their own people are no better off. That speaks volumes to
me.

~~~
Dolores12
Have you read article at all? Why would you call terrorists "own people"?

~~~
dsabanin
Because any person who disagrees with official stance on anything can be
conveniently labeled as a terrorist. It's been done million times.

Not so long ago we had "enemy of the people" term in Russia that was applied
so broadly that significant portion of population was affected.

In US terrorist watch list grows out of proportion and no one knows who's in
it and why.

~~~
guard-of-terra
> in Russia

In Soviet Union. That's kind of a different entity (for me at least).

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cjslep
Is anyone surprised Putin is eager for this? This is a man who was a junior
officer in the KGB. Young enough to be bought into the propaganda of the USSR,
smart enough to land a job at the KGB, and yet not senior enough to see
through the high level societal corruption and demystify much of the inner
workings of the upper eschelon. It's no surprise that he wants to "Make Russia
Great Again" after living through the "humiliation" of the USSR's demise.
That's precisely why he is dangerous even by the old guard's standards:
Lessons that should have been learned were not.

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nxzero
Recently noticed that prior to the end of the Cold War, the global annual
count of terrorist attacks [1] were growing rapidly, but then, after the USSR
fell, they rapidly declined.

Anyone seen any alias of this and if there was any link between the fall in
terrorist attacks globally and the fall of the USSR?

[1] Global Terrorism Database:
[https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/](https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/)

~~~
cjslep
You mean the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan where the US supplied weapons to
the Mujahideen insurrection/terrorists (including a Mijahideen member named
Osama Bin Laden)? USSR retreat meant no more targets for the
insurrection/terrorists. This was towards the end of the USSR's life. Before
then, in the 60s Afghanistan was a pretty modern country by western standards.
So there wasn't violence and discontent like there was after that entire
event.

~~~
blahi
What has this story to do with parent's comment? Also you don't seem to be
telling the story fully. The USSR invaded Afghanistan which posed a great
threat to the global supply chain of oil which is a threat to the US national
security. That's why the US was forced to back the Mujahideens.

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jonny_eh
It's interesting that revoking citizenship was a step too far for Russia.
Canada passed a similar law last year: [http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/what-
dual-citizens-need-to-know...](http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/what-dual-
citizens-need-to-know-about-bill-c-24-the-new-citizenship-law-1.2426968)

~~~
hx87
The Canadian version is for dual citizens only. They're not leaving single
citizenship Canadians stateless, like the proposed version of the Russian law
does.

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Dolores12
Russia is getting close to USA PRISM[1] program.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_\(surveillance_program\))

~~~
pilsetnieks
They're far beyond it for a few years now. Before this law there was another
(in 2014 if I'm not mistaken) that stipulated that if you do anything with
Russian data, you have to 1) store that data physically inside Russia, and 2)
you have to give full access to that data to any law enforcement organization
upon their request (no warrants, no reason, no appealing, etc.) If you don't,
you pay a hefty fine and/or they just shut you down. Also if you have a
website with over 3000 daily readers, you must use your real name when
publishing anything and must register with a government agency.

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scottlocklin
I don't know what to make of this; half of these laws are on the books in the
US, and the other half are on the books elsewhere in the West.

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Grue3
Waiting for Snowden to condemn this.

~~~
dsabanin
He already did, a while ago: [https://boingboing.net/2016/06/27/snowden-
publicly-condemns-...](https://boingboing.net/2016/06/27/snowden-publicly-
condemns-russ.html)

~~~
Grue3
Honestly did not expect this. Though at this point in time he's clearly
outlived his usefulness as a Putin's PR toy, so maybe he can tweet whatever he
wants now.

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transfire
Escalation.

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lovedj
As if they didn't have enough laws against protesting...

 _Yarovaya 's legislation introduces a new criminal-code article that outlaws
“inducing, recruiting, or otherwise involving” others in the organization of
mass unrest. The maximum penalty for breaking this law is ten years, and the
minimum prison sentence is five years._

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dsabanin
Parent post is a pretty good example of propaganda that is being disseminated
on full volume all over Russia for last 5 years. They got really good at
shilling all over the internet with these kind of messages.

~~~
Dolores12
Do you have any argument? I can say exactly the same about this topic.
meduza.io is owned by old angry woman that were kicked from lenta.ru for being
too pro-west.

~~~
dsabanin
And we all know what lenta.ru looks like now, after she and others left, it's
a pro-Putin propaganda outlet now.

