Russian Pensioner Fined for Liking YouTube Videos Critical of the Army
A concerning development in Russia’s crackdown on dissent has seen a 72-year-old pensioner fined 30,000 rubles (approximately €325) for the act of ‘discrediting’ the Russian army. The charge? Simply liking videos on YouTube, as reported by investigative journalism outlet Verstka on Monday.
Vasily Yovdy, a Ukrainian citizen with permanent residency in Russia, received the fine on January 23rd. Court records indicate the penalty stemmed from his ‘approval in the form of likes’ given to online videos. While the specific content of the videos remains undisclosed, court documents suggest they were created by individuals designated as ‘foreign agents’ by the Russian government.
The Kirillov Assassination and Online Expression
One of the videos reportedly focused on the assassination of General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, who was killed in a terror attack in December 2024. Yovdy acknowledged liking the videos, even stating he knew one was produced by a “Ukrainian propagandist” and believed Ukrainian secret services were responsible for Kirillov’s murder, according to Verstka’s reporting.
In January, a Moscow court convicted three Russians and a citizen of Uzbekistan for Kirillov’s murder. Ukraine’s SBU counterintelligence agency claimed responsibility for the assassination the day after the attack, labeling Kirillov a “legitimate target.”
A First-of-Its-Kind Case?
Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with the Russian human rights NGO First Department, believes Yovdy’s case is unprecedented – the first instance of someone being fined solely for liking a YouTube video. This raises serious questions about the boundaries of free expression and the criminalization of online activity.
However, Verstka points out a crucial detail: YouTube only displays the profile names of those who ‘like’ videos to the account owner, not to the public. This casts significant doubt on the judge’s reasoning that Yovdy’s likes constituted a public statement. This case highlights the increasingly restrictive environment for online expression in Russia and the potential for arbitrary enforcement of vaguely defined laws.
Implications for Online Freedom
This incident underscores the growing trend of governments monitoring and penalizing online behavior. The case of Vasily Yovdy serves as a stark warning about the potential consequences of expressing opinions, even through seemingly innocuous actions like ‘liking’ content online. It also raises concerns about the privacy of online interactions and the potential for misinterpretation of user activity. For further information on freedom of speech and online censorship, consider exploring resources from Human Rights Watch.
