Supreme Court abolishes preliminary censorship of comments in online media

Today, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation adopted amendments to the decree “On the practice of the application by courts of the law of the Russian Federation“ On Mass Media ””. According to the amendments, the responsibility for comments of users is now removed from officially registered online media, but they will be obliged to delete or edit comments as requested by Roskomnadzor.

Thus, registered online media receive benefits on ordinary websites, forums and blogs. The authors of posts on these sites are fully liable under the Civil Code for offending, inaccurate or extremist information published on the Internet. They are also responsible for claims for the protection of honor and dignity, for the dissemination of defamatory information and for other similar claims.