http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/02/russia-bans-swear-words-in-films-theatre-the-media-and-arts/
Well, Russia is banning swearing to promote traditional values, apparently freedom of expression isn't one of those values. Hefty fines will be imposed on violators. This to me seems like it will run into issues in the future, as language is a living thing and varies from place to place and evolves with time. What might be profane to some demographic or region in Russia might not be to another, there's no fine line.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/25/a-new-level-of-idiocy-russia-considers-banning-high-heels-foreign-words-and-condom-ads/
Also being considered are such measures as to ban on sneakers and high heels, smoking for women under 40 and in the presence of children under 14, condom and pregnancy test advertising, and the use of foreign words. I've heard about Russian culture Nazis wanting to ban foreign words for years, like wanting to ban word "hot dog" or "pizza" because there's not an existing Russian word for it; thus the foreign word is borrowed, and this offends the cultural purists. Anyhow, they note that many of these crazy bills might not go through, but they also say that some may very well pass.
Agence France-Presse notes that such bills may be an effort to rally support from the middle age population and the Orthodox Church. They also note that the lawmakers have little else to do since they generally only pass major laws that are passed down from the Kremlin. Passing these ridiculous bills is all these lawmakers have to make a name for themselves, and they have an election coming up in 2016. They also note that Russian lawmakers are only doing what they believe Putin wants them to do.
Since Putin has taken power in Russia he's been quick to kill the ability for open, vocal, public dissent. That hasn't stopped the population from getting their punches in while they can. Lawmaker Elena Mizulina, who has been noted for promoting a lot of stupid and contentious bills, has become the subject of an online petition with over 100,000 petitioners asking that the Russia's Ministry of Health utilize it's top medical experts to have Elena Mizulina's mental health examined... well, it'd appear Russians aren't a completely void of humor; bravo.
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