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Taking the freedom of expression to extremes in Russia
One week ago experienced journalist and blogger Nikolay Troitsky wrote in his Russian language blog he dreamt of blowing up all the gay people with a special bomb. If you haven’t heard of this, please refer to this post in my journalism-related blog.
Probably the most surprising was the polar feedback coming from Russian journalists, bloggers, officials and social activists. However most feedback dealt with the context of Troitsky’s reasoning, not the extremist and obscene way in which he expressed it - in fact the main reason for the journalist’s dismissal which led to contract termination by mutual consent.
Apparently warmed up by such hypocritical public reception Troitsky eventually put the blame of his job termination on a whistleblowing blogger who filed a complaint with the journalist employer’s press office. And again, quite a few fellow bloggers and journalists supported Troitsky’s angst, fearing the return of the age of delators.
Since the worst days of the Soviet era, the delators of the good and the bad have been frowned upon in Russia. Quite often people turn a blind eye to what they witness and hear, pretending that’s none of their business. We have a long way to go to learn of the difference between giving a social service heаds up and plain acting as a mole.
My American colleague wrote in a column he felt almost embarrassed to have known Troitsky. Well, I feel almost embarrassed I haven’t come across his blog earlier.
The above is a repost from my other blog on PR and journalism in Russia.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Valery Levchenko on July 6, 2011 at 15:46 -
Dear Sarah and Sueli,
Many thanks for your comments. I agree this is about abusing the freedom of expression. And I think the Russian public would have reacted differently had the subject itself been different.
I was impressed with the similarities in the story on Lithuania. Perhaps the topic of hate speech on the Web deserves a separate discussion involving the European countries and their neighbors.
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Comment by Sarah Fenwick on July 6, 2011 at 11:13 -
Is it freedom of expression to insult a group of people for their sexual orientation? I think that it insults the concept of freedom of expression for a writer to take out his frustration on others like this. This is more like abusing freedom of expression than anything else.
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Comment by Sueli Brodin on July 6, 2011 at 10:50 -
Hello Valery, we published an interesting article on the EJC website on the topic of hate speech in Lithuanian online media platforms:
Why is hate speech flourishing on the Lithuanian Internet?
It's a phenomenon I am not very familiar with here in the Netherlands where I live. I can't say I have come across this type of public anti-gay sentiment. I would even say much to the contrary.
It's interesting indeed to see how the Russian public is reacting on the matter. Do you think people would have reacted differently if the issue had revolved around another subject? (other than homosexuality)
I am quite sure in any case that Dutch media organisations would have taken the same measures as Ria Novosti.
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