Russia makes internet memes depicting public figures illegal

Russian Internet censor Roskomnadzor has announced that it is illegal to publish any internet meme that depicts a public figure calling it a violation of laws governing personal data.

According to Stuff.co.nz, Roskomnadzor's policy announcement said that it harms the honour, dignity and business of public figures. It is not a new law passed by parliament but a clarification of existing policy, published to the popular social network Vkontakte.

Meme based on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to reports, the announcement came in light of a lawsuit filed by the Russian singer Valeri Syutkin, who sued an irreverent Wikipedia-style culture site over an image macro that paired his picture with some less-than-tasteful lyrics from another artist's song.

Meme based on Valeri Syutkin.

The BBPE in the meme was meant to stand for "smack the bitch up" in Russian.

On Tuesday, a Moscow judge ruled for Syutkin, prompting the Roskomnadzor to publish an update to its "personal data laws."

As Roskomnadzor's announcement, those laws now ban memes that picture public figures in a way that has no relation to their personality, parody accounts and parody websites. 

Meme based on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With agency inputs.