![Police detain a journalist with a poster that reads “Journalism is not a crime” in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 21, 2021 (AP photo by Denis Kaminev).](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/l_russia-media-03232022-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
Earlier this month, the Duma, Russia’s parliament, passed a law introducing punishments of up to 15 years in prison for disseminating “false information” about the Russian armed forces’ activities in Ukraine. The law requires that the Russian invasion of Ukraine be described as a “special military operation,” and applies to news media, journalists, bloggers and ordinary people alike. Though not technically a law regulating the media, it has already radically changed the country’s media landscape, essentially introducing military censorship in Russia. Shortly after the new law was passed, Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal communications regulator, began blocking independent media outlets en […]