After second government warning, one of Russia’s last independent newspapers risks losing its license

Roskomnadzor, the Kremlin’s media watchdog agency, has issued a second formal warning to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s most outspoken independent publications. The warning states that a July 10 article in the newspaper, titled “Seaside of Japan, or Life on the Shore,” contains obscenities, which are illegal in the Russian mass media.

The article in question is an excerpt from the book called A Crystal in a Clear Frame by Vasily Avchenko, a journalist and author from the far eastern city of Vladivostok. In 2015, the book was nominated for the Russian National Bestseller literature prize.

Novaya Gazeta published an excerpt from the book that indeed features a swear word. A few of the letters in the word were initially replaced by periods, but later the editors replaced all the letters with periods. The current version of the publication reads: “There is no sea in Khabarovsk; the air is not filled with freedom or capriciousness or even … [“fickleness”] from the fragility and unpredictability of life, which you can only find in port cities.” 

If a Russian media outlet receives two warnings within 12 months, Roskomnadzor can ask a court to revoke that publication’s media license.

Novaya Gazeta received its first warning in October 2014 (less than 12 months ago) for “signs of extremism” in an article called “If We Are Not the West, Then Who Are We?” by prominent journalist and author Yulia Latynina.