'The State Duma Has Proposed Banning...'

Memri

16-07-2025

"The State Duma has proposed banning..." – this phrase, like a broken record, has been topping the news about Russian legislative activity for years. It seems that there is nothing left that our parliamentarians could not try to ban, and with severe consequences for violators! But now they have set their sights on something sacred – everything!
An initiative has been "wandering" in the corridors of the State Duma for a long time, trying to eliminate freedom of choice.
Deputy Speaker of the State Duma and former ombudsman for children's rights Anna Kuznetsova is lobbying for a bill aimed at eradicating "destructive ideology as a whole." Can you imagine the scale? Two volumes of research have already been prepared with the support of the Ministry of Science! It turns out that all of this is laid down in presidential decree No. 809 "On approval of the Fundamentals of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values." Until now, the decree was recalled to cite the list of "traditional values," so beloved by officials and clergy. And now, if Kuznetsova's initiative is implemented, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING can be banned! After all, "fundamentals" are not a joke, but a "strategic planning document in the sphere of ensuring national security of the Russian Federation." Everything is serious!
Elvira Kikhareva
They Intend To Ban Almost Anything
The list of "traditional values" in itself, it seems, is quite decent: life, dignity, patriotism, family, humanism, justice... Who would argue? But, as they say, the devil is in the details! It turns out to be a cognitive dissonance: either this is a traditional value, or a tool of the West for the destruction of sovereignty (and everything Western, in the opinion of the Russian elite, is pure evil).
After all, for some reason, the State Duma is in no hurry to discuss how to implement these values. It is much easier to ban something! And here comes the decree, which lists all the "enemies" that threaten our values: extremists (they are those who go out to the squares with a poster saying "no to war"), the media (numerous liberal publications that have been dispersed and banned by the authorities), the United States, and even some organizations and individuals within the country. Well, you get the idea – enemies are everywhere! At the same time, the very concept of "destructive ideology" is vague to the point of impossibility, which allows it to include absolutely everything that the Kremlin does not like. As a result, they intend to ban almost anything, and punish violations to the fullest extent of the law!
Who benefits from this? Yes, everyone who wants to curry favor with the authorities, the "experts" of Putin's pool, and, of course, law enforcement agencies. After all, it is much easier to catch "violators of ideology" than real criminals! Sleight of hand – and no miracles!
But in addition to the "bans" that Russians are accustomed to, there are also proposals. According to parliamentarians, they are very useful.
Russian lawmakers, no doubt motivated by concern for the welfare of citizens, have recently decided to expand the practice of forced labor for those who have committed minor offenses. Of course, this has nothing to do with the desperate shortage of labor in the economy, which the government modestly estimates at two million people. Just a coincidence...
So, the State Duma, in a fit of extraordinary generosity, on July 8 adopted a package of amendments that effectively introduce forced labor as a new type of punishment for as many as 45 articles of the code. Now, if you accidentally cause moderate harm to health or, say, involve a minor in innocent pranks, the court will happily give you the chance to work for the good of society in a correctional center for up to five years.
It is especially touching that "corrective labor" will also be applied to economic articles. Did you delay your employees' salaries for three months? Welcome to re-education through labor! Did you falsify reports? No big deal, forced labor will help you realize the depth of your fall.
The authors of this "brilliant" initiative claim that forced labor has an exclusively positive effect on crime prevention. Convicts, as one, demonstrate simply inhuman motivation to work, acquire valuable skills and, of course, are spiritually enriched.
It seems that it is time to open a network of free labor camps – those who want to will certainly line up!
We Get A Clear Example Of Slavery
As Russian legislative practice shows, at least in these few seemingly sarcastic, but in fact very symptomatic examples, any expansion of state powers can lead not only to selective application of the law in relation to citizens of a particular country, but also to the desire to expand these powers in foreign, neighboring, sovereign territories.
Undesirable officials, leaders of neighboring states, entrepreneurs, oppositionists or simply "wrong" citizens can end up in a correctional center for far-fetched reasons, be expelled from the country or forcibly sent to the front for the sake of someone's geopolitical ambitions. Today, there is practically no one to protect them from tyranny – they should have thought about this earlier.
As a result, we get a clear example of slavery: people are forced to live according to pre-written rules under the threat of punishment and a constant feeling of anxiety. And this is completely incompatible with the proclaimed values of freedom, justice and humanism.
The growth of state control over life and the suppression of dissent, which we see in the example of Russia, create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. In such an environment, a constructive dialogue between the authorities and society is practically impossible, and any disagreement is dangerous for "national security."
It is especially alarming that such practices are increasingly justified by ideological cliches about "traditional values" and a "special path." These slogans serve as a cover for authoritarian methods of governance and suppression of freedoms under the pretext of the uniqueness of national character, allegedly incompatible with Western democracy.
Leading The Multi-Million Nation Into A Dead End
However, history proves that rights and freedoms are universal values, independent of geography or culture. The desire for justice, equality, and dignity is inherent in every person, regardless of nationality and beliefs. Attempts to justify restrictions on rights by referring to a "special path" and the adoption of dubious laws are just a disguise for the usurpation of power and the protection of the selfish interests of the ruling elite.
Ultimately, a strong and prosperous state can only be built by respecting rights and freedoms. An open society with guaranteed freedom of speech, assembly and an independent judicial system is the basis of the economy, science, and culture. Otherwise, the country is doomed to many years of stagnation, and legislators have no choice but to continue to strengthen control, passing more and more odious laws that help to preserve and extend their influence, but lead the multi-million nation into a dead end.
*Elvira Vikhareva is a renowned Russian opposition politician based in Russia. In 2023, she was poisoned with heavy metal salts.