"Many went out for the apartments, but no one wants to" freedom of expression "

In Moscow, a procession was held against censorship on the Internet. Report "Medusa"

On July 23, in Moscow, the procession “For Free Internet” was held - the participants demanded the resignation of the head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov and chanted the slogans against restrictions on the Internet. According to the organizers, including the Parnas party, about two thousand people took part in the procession, the police reported eight hundred participants.

The organizers and participants of the procession “For Free Internet” began to gather on passionate Boulevard a little earlier than two in the afternoon. “Russia is uneveled by censorship and dictatorship,” the Left Block movement shouted. One of them told Medusa that he decided to take part in the procession after the State Duma approved a bill prohibiting anonymously communicating in messengers. “The Internet should be completely free space,” said the young man.

“We can’t prohibit us, we can’t intimidate us,” other participants echoed him.

The co -chair of the Moscow branch of the Parnassan party, one of the organizers of the procession - Mikhail Schneider said that the idea of ​​holding a protest rally belongs to very young people: “They all over twenty, but censorship has already touched them. Censorship should be prohibited not only online, but also offline, ”said Schneider. He said that when passing through the framework of metal detectors, police officers illegally inspected and selected some posters. Even before the start of the procession, an elderly man with a homemade poster was taken out of the crowd: "Putin Lies, Chekism is shame."

In addition to the banners of Parnas, the flags of other organizers fluttered over the column: the “Democratic Choice” and “Civil Initiative” parties, the Roskomsvobod organization, as well as the Pirate Party of Russia. The official representative of the latter, Pavel Radudov, admitted to Medusa that they usually do not participate in such promotions: “Our duty is not to be silent. There should be no censorship on the Internet, and we don’t care about television. ”

Two students - most participants were young people - came to the passionate, outraged by the law on the protection of personal data of protected persons, which Vladimir Putin signed on July 1. Another company of students admitted to the Medusa correspondent that “depressed by such a small number of participants”: “The Internet is almost the only opportunity to confront the state today. Many went out for their apartments, but no one wants to go out for freedom of expression. ”

The slogans “Freedom of speech always and everywhere”, “prohibit prohibiting” and “The Internet is the right, and not privileges” interspersed with the “Russia without Putin”, “Freedom to political prisoners” and “Russia will be free”.

Pensioner Nadezhda - she handed out the flags of Parnas to her party colleagues - admitted that she did not use the Internet: "I at one time played with computing technology, but I am convinced that there is no freedom of speech without freedom of the Internet."

"Freedom of mathematics Dmitry Bogatov." This slogan sounded on the procession almost more often than others, some participants brought homemade posters with the words of support to Bogatov and launched paper aircraft with his name.

Several times the words of support and the “Pokemon catcher” sounded, Ruslan Sokolovsky, recently entered into the terrorist base: “Sokolovsky is not a terrorist,” the activists chanted.

The former system administrator - a man of about fifty, who came to the passionate with his wife - told the Medusa correspondent that modern Russia differs from the Soviet Union only by the lack of an iron curtain: “They closed everything except borders. The Internet is the last thing to close. ”

“If they say shouting - scream even more”, “Internet free, power on the stake”, “Our truth is stronger than censorship”, “To cancel 282,” the participants continued to chant. Others carried posters in their hands: “Do not plant the Internet”, “Our Internet”, “Censorship - Fool, the Internet - well done”.

Among the participants in the procession was the head of the campaign headquarters Alexei Navalny Leonid Volkov. He told Medusa that it has been working professionally on the Internet for 17 years: “I know that we could be proud of our Internet, this is an innovative area that brings money. But censorship: the ban on anonymizers and VPN and other laws - puts its existence. ”

When the column approached Petrovsky Boulevard and Neglinnaya Street, some organizers asked not to shout slogans about Putin for a while. “There are three buses with riot police in the lane,” Medusa explained the correspondent, “therefore it is better to scream something about censorship on the Internet.”

A few hundred meters before Sakharov Avenue - the final point of the procession - the parnas volunteers, who headed the column, launched a new banner: Zharova resigned. A number of slogans were devoted not only to the head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov, but also to the deputy chairman of the State Duma Irina Yarova: “Roskomnadzor - to the basket. Zharova - resigned. " "Down with the package of Yarova."

On Sakharov Avenue, the Medusa correspondent managed to talk with civil activist Ildar Dadin. He admitted that he “with difficulty” forced himself to come to the procession: “A procession in the form of a coordinated corral is humiliation. I think this is the last event agreed with the authorities in which I am participating. ”

The procession "For Free Internet" lasted a little more than an hour. Before leaving Sakharov Avenue, some activists called on to come tomorrow - July 24 - to the Presnensky court, where the meeting will be held, at which Dmitry Bogatov may change the preventive measure.

Sasha Sulim