Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his administration to explore the idea of ​​creating a “self-regulatory registry of toxic content.” This was reported on the Kremlin website.

The register was proposed by businessman Igor Ashmanov at Putin’s meeting with the Human Rights Council in December. In his opinion, this list could include sites with information that is not prohibited by law, but may have an undesirable impact on young people.

Categories of “toxic content”, as conceived by Ashmanov, could be determined in the process of “open public discussion”. The businessman himself suggested referring to “toxic content” information about violence, bestiality, radical feminism, the danger of vaccinations, refusing to have children, encouraging LGBT people.

In a new instruction, Putin suggested that his administration “if necessary, take appropriate support measures” to create a registry. This must be done by June 1st.

Since 2012, a register of banned sites has been operating in Russia. The need for its creation was explained by the authorities as a desire to protect children from harmful information. Critics of the authorities have repeatedly noted that this register is often used as a tool for political censorship.

(c)MEDUZA 2022