A Russian woman received 9 fines for memes on the internet. She has to pay a huge amount

A Russian woman from the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban received nine fines for almost a million rubles for posting memes and a frame from a movie. They were assessed as "LGBT propaganda." The woman posted these images on her profile in 2012, 2019, and 2020.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a package of laws banning "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" and "propaganda of gender reassignment and pedophilia." The regulations prohibit LGBT "propaganda" in any goods sold in Russia, films, books, advertisements, media materials, and audiovisual services. Distributing among minors "information indicating non-traditional sexual relations or that may induce a desire for gender change" is punishable by a fine of up to 200,000 rubles.

A 27-year-old saleswoman, Daria Rashewskaya, received nine fines of 100,000 rubles each imposed by a judge in the Russian city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban

This information is reported by the Russian independent portal verstka.media. In all cases, she was found guilty under the article concerning "LGBT propaganda" on the internet. The reason for drawing up the protocols was the photos that the police found on her social media profile. She posted them in 2012, 2019, and 2020. The court decision stated that the photos showed "people of the same sex."

Daria Rashewskaya's lawyer explained in court that they were screenshots showing scenes of kisses from movies and music videos. For example, a frame from the movie "Confess Whisper" or from the music video for the song "Take me to Church".

Rashewskaya herself said that some of the images that led to the fines were memes, photos, and nudes that she saw on popular public art pages. "There was a photo, a frame from the music video for the song 'Take me to Church,' and it was a meme, there were funny captions, but the police don't take that into account," said the Russian woman.

The judge also decided that the images created a "distorted understanding of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships." The lawyer insisted on conducting a thorough examination of this issue, but the court refused, citing the fact that "special knowledge is not required to determine gender." At five hearings, at the invitation of the lawyer, a friend of Daria spoke. She said she had been communicating with the girl since 2015 and had not noticed any propaganda of "non-traditional sexual relationships" on her page, but the court did not take her testimony into account.