Good manners and kittens may exempt bloggers from mass media law

Posting pictures of kittens and using polite tone of voice may exempt Russian bloggers from the new mass media law, which makes the posting of false information, expletives and extremist materials a criminal offence.

Under the law, which comes into effect on 1 August, blogs with more than 3,000 unique visitors a day are counted as mass media and must register with media watchdog Roskomnadzor.

In an announcement today, Roskomnadzor Deputy Director Maxim Ksenzov said: “If you post kitten pics, speak in a civilised manner and publish no classified information, you may never be required [to register], even if you have a daily audience of one million visitors.”

The law, passed as part of a ‘counter-terrorism’ legal package, was drafted in April following the bombings in Volgograd in 2013 and will subject law-breakers to fines of up to 500,000 roubles ($14,300).

Source: The Moscow Times