Putin has signed into law Russia's ‘fake news’ and ‘Internet insults’ bans

Vladimir Putin has signed two controversial new laws, despite widespread public controversy. The legislation penalizes Internet users and online media for publishing “unreliable” information of social significance or spreading “obscene” criticisms of the Russian government, its symbols, or some of its members.

On March 11, Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights requested that the Federal Council reject both bills in their current form and send them back to the State Duma to be amended. The Presidential Council’s experts found that both bills contain vague language and a number of potential loopholes that could be abused.