There are few things Russia loves more than banning things, stockpiling nukes may be one of them, but the country’s rampant censorship has started to reach comical levels. A good example would be the fact that there’s now such a thing as an illegal meme in Russia. I’m serious. It’s now against the law in Russia to use a celebrity’s photograph in a meme in most scenarios.
Russian censors have determined that one of the most popular forms of Internet meme is illegal. According to Roskomnadzor, the Kremlin’s media watchdog, it’s now against the law to use celebrities’ photographs in a meme, “when the image has nothing to do with the celebrity’s personality.” The new policy comes on the heels of a court decision in Moscow, where a judge ruled that a particular photo meme violates the privacy of Russian singer Valeri Syutkin. The court’s decision targets an article on Lurkmore, a popular Wikipedia-style Russian website that focuses on Internet subcultures and memes. An illegal meme. The meme in question is an image macro built on a lyric from an obscene Russian song from 2005. The phrase, “Bei Babu po Ebalu” (usually shortened to “BBPE”), translates roughly to “Smack the Bitch in the Face.” The song belongs to an obscure musician named Nambavan (“Number One”), and appeared on an album titled “Sex, Drugs, and Russian Girls.”
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