The Parliament of Chechnya has submitted a bill prohibiting the dissemination of criminals' ethnicity in news media to the Russian State Duma. The text of the document is published in the State Duma's electronic database.
"Mentioning of the nationality, religion and ethnic of Russian persons involved in the commission of crimes in the media, as well as in information and telecommunication networks, is prohibited," the bill reads.
The authors argue that this ban is necessary to preserve interethnic and interfaith harmony and peace in Russia, since the dissemination of such information may offend the national and religious feelings of "honest, respectable citizens, true believers who have nothing to do with criminal activity."
In addition, the authors of the bill emphasize that the media and social networks often publish materials containing a negative emotional assessment and forming a negative attitude towards a certain ethnic, confessional group or individuals as members of this group, as well as pushing to restrict their rights or to violent actions against them.
