The Duma will discuss responsibility for “propaganda of extremism”

A bill on criminal liability for “propaganda and justification of the ideology of extremism” has been submitted to the State Duma of Russia. He must make changes to the criminal article on “public calls for extremist activity”. One of the co-authors of the bill, the head of the State Duma Committee on Security, Vasyl Pyskarev, reported this in his Telegram channel.

In the draft law, propaganda of extremism is called “the dissemination of information aimed at forming in a person the ideology of extremism, conviction of its attractiveness, or ideas about the permissibility of extremist activity.” And the justification of extremism is called “public statements about recognizing the ideology and practice of extremism as correct, in need of support and imitation.”

According to Pyskarev, the bill is a “reaction to the propaganda of mass shooting.” He said that the justification and demand to present “fashionable” mass murders in the youth environment is an extremely dangerous trend.

Now the article on “public calls for extremist activity” provides for imprisonment for a term of up to five years or a fine of up to 300,000 rubles.

• In Russia, in recent years, cases of “shootings” in educational institutions, committed, including, by worshipers of “Columbine”, have become more frequent. So, in September of last year, Artyom Kazantsev, a graduate of this educational institution, opened fire with two pistols in Izhevsk secondary school No. 88, killing fifteen people. The media reported that homemade keychains with the words Columbine, Eric, and Dylan were attached to the weapon. An hour before that, 18-year-old Timur Bekmansurov opened fire on the campus of the Perm State Research University. Six people died. In May 2021, 19-year-old Ilnaz Galyaviev set off an explosion and opened fire in gymnasium No. 175 in Kazan, killing nine people.