Russia has banned images of President Vladimir Putin’s face photoshopped with makeup on. Photos that depict the president in drag are commonly used by protesters in the country during agitations against Russia’s anti-gay laws. According to court records, the image “hints at the Russian president’s allegedly nonstandard sexual orientation”, The Moscow Times reported.
The ban came as a result of a regional court’s verdict from May 2016 – the court had banned dozens of images uploaded by one AV Tsvetkov between June 2013 and October 2014, including racist ones and one of Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Nazi uniforms, wearing makeup.
Such photographs of the president have been commonplace in Russia since Putin passed a law banning “gay propaganda” in the country in 2013.
The Justice Ministry added the new restriction last week to a list of banned extremist materials, which now has 4,074 entries. Putin’s morphed photograph takes up the 4,071st spot.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told state-run news agency Tass that Putin had not seen the photoshopped images, but was “quite resilient to these vulgarities”. “Our legislation has, so to say, a certain code defending a citizen’s honour and dignity, including those of the president. Individuals need to be guided by these norms, so unfortunately, I can say nothing.”
However, the ban has not stopped social media users from sharing images of Putin wearing makeup widely. “This photo of Putin is illegal in Russia? Hey everyone, definitely don’t post this,” said one user, who shared a photo of the Russian president wearing makeup in the backdrop of the trademark LGBT rainbow colours.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!