History of Censorship in Russia

Description: Eastern European-Asian nation with deep historical roots that was part of the Soviet Union through most of the twentieth century

Significance: Russia’s reemergence after the collapse of the Soviet Union represents a return to questions of censorship and free speech not addressed since the czarist era

The state of Russia has a long history of censorship. Although the printing press did not arrive in Russia until 1564, and was not employed for secular purposes until the reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725), government policies of censorship rose quickly after the emergence of the press. Indeed, in October 1720, Czar Peter, expanding upon the Code that Czar Alexis had established in 1649, enacted a law under which the production of any material had to receive prior approval of the Russian Orthodox church. Furthermore, Peter’s special police, the Preobrazhensky Commission, had the authority to arrest and torture anyone breaking the censorship code.

Peter’s Preobrazhensky Commission lasted until the reign of his son, Peter II (1727–30). While Peter II continued his father’s policy of prepublication censorship of ecclesiastical materials by the church, he transferred the censorship of secular materials to two organizations: the Senate press and the Academy of Sciences. Under this structure, the Senate press was charged with the censoring and publication of all government sources and the Academy of Sciences was responsible for all other secular materials. Furthermore, until 1750, and the reign of Czar Elizabeth (1741–61), the Senate had the authority to censor all materials published by the Academy. Both the Senate and the Academy, however, permitted little opportunity for publications to promote their opinions without governmental interference.

Catherine the Great

Governmental policies on censorship remained extremely limiting until the reign of Czarina Catherine II (1762–1796), also known as Catherine the Great. Catherine established a commission in 1767 to create a new, more liberal code of laws on censorship. Although the new code maintained state and church monopolies on printing, the general mood of the country moved toward a more open, liberal environment. In 1771 Catherine moved toward decentralization of the press by permitting the creation of the first private press operating under the premise that nothing would be printed which opposed “Christianity, the government or common decency.” The decentralization of the press was created in statute in 1783, when Catherine granted a greater freedom of the press, under the monitoring of the police who had the ability to repeal any materials contravening “the laws of God and the state” or considered to be of a “clearly seditious” nature.

Under the more liberal atmosphere, publishing flourished until the government became concerned with acts of sedition due to the French Revolution. In 1796 Catherine abolished the free press established in 1771 and transferred absolute control over all printing to the state. Government offices were established in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Riga, and Odessa to monitor the printing and importation of works, and works deemed “against God’s law, governmental orders or common decency” were burned.

When Catherine died in 1796, she was succeeded by Paul I. Czar Paul pardoned several convicted under the censorship laws of Catherine I, but also moved to strengthen the control of the censors. Paul centralized control of censorship in St. Petersburg. All foreign works attacking “faith, civil law and morality” were automatically outlawed, as were all references to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The importance Paul attached to censorship is demonstrated by the fact that he personally chaired all inquisition into questionable publications.

Alexander I and the Return of Liberalism

Alexander I (1801–25) came to power in a coup against his father, Paul. His censorship policies marked a return to the more enlightened era of Catherine the Great. In 1801 Alexander abolished his father’s restrictions on foreign press and, in 1803, decentralized the press. Under Alexander’s new policies, codified in the statute on censorship law in 1804, control over state censorship was transferred from the police to educational institutions, thereby transforming governmental policies of censorship from repressive to educational functions.

However, Alexander’s liberal attitude toward the press was cut short by the war with France lasting from 1805 to 1815. To combat efforts of the French fifth column aimed at the subversion of the Russian government, new committees on censorship were established. In 1811 the newly established Ministry of Police was given control of all security functions within the Russian state, including power of censorship. However, the Ministry of Police was not effective in controlling the press, and in 1819, the power of censorship reverted to the Ministry of the Interior.

Decembrists and the Shishkov Reforms

When Alexander I died in 1825, he was succeeded by his brother, Nicholas I (1825–55). After the aborted Decembrist coup of December 14, 1825, Nicholas was deeply concerned with the power of the press to influence the peasants and workers of Russia. He instituted more conservative measures, aimed at limiting the influence of the press. These measures, proposed by Admiral Shishkov and adopted into law in May 1826, included policies aimed at replacing academic censorship with professional bureaucrats charged with monitoring the press. The Shishkov reforms were intended to guarantee that publications would “have a useful or at least not-dangerous orientation for the welfare of the fatherland” and to “direct public opinion into agreeing with the present political circumstances and views of the government.” Included in the policy were restrictions on discussion of metaphysical rights of justice and freedom, and elimination of all works which discussed secular or religious dissent.

Although the Shishkov reforms were strongly embraced by the Russian Orthodox church, strong opposition to the strict censorship laws was nevertheless felt across the country. When Czar Nicholas, responding to the opposition, began to weaken the strict censorship laws, Admiral Shishkov resigned his post as chair and chief censor of the Supreme Committee and Chief Administration on Censorship. He was replaced on April 23, 1828 by the moderate Prince Lieven. Under the new censorship laws enacted by Nicholas to weaken the Shishkov reforms, any work which endangered the primacy of the church or the state remained outlawed. However, the ability of the government to hold authors accountable for their works was limited.

Secret Directives of Nicholas I

Despite the new, liberal bias of the czar’s censorship laws, Nicholas remained concerned with the possibility of revolution. To that end, he enacted a secret directive on April 25, 1828. Under this directive, a secret section of the chancellory responsible for censorship was created and charged with the responsibility of monitoring any materials which affected the czar’s interests and to interfere with their publication as deemed necessary.

The secret directive of 1828 was enhanced by two other secret directives of 1828 and 1831. The combined effect of these directives was to limit the scope and effectiveness of the legal reforms enacted by Czar Nicholas earlier in his reign. The revolutions of 1848 served to prove to the czar that a greater degree of control over the press was necessary to ensure his continued reign. As such, on April 2, 1848, Nicholas created the Committee for Supreme Supervision, and placed it under the leadership of D. P. Burturlin. Although the committee operated secretly, it acted strongly to crush any possible opposition or challenges to the policies of the government.

The Obolensky Commission

Nevertheless, an unofficial, radical press emerged to cater to the increasing demands for newspapers and magazines. Indeed, by the time Czar Nicholas died in 1855, a radical press catering to the intellectuals and bourgeoisie was well established. Thus, when Alexander II (1855–81) came to power with a hope of emancipating the serfs, or slave-farmers, he hoped to employ the assistance of the new press. Alexander hoped an open dialogue would serve to further his intention to free the serfs, a policy which was strongly opposed by many influential and powerful people in Russia. As such, he appointed A. V. Golovnin as education minister in 1861.

Golovnin, strongly supporting the czar’s open policy on censorship, moved quickly to liberalize governmental policies on censorship. He permitted many new publications to be established and allowed them to carry advertisements for the first time. Furthermore, he established the Obolensky Commission to draft new proposals for governmental policies on censorship.

However, as Golovnin and his Obolensky Commission were establishing new policies on censorship, the political and economic situation in Russia was becoming less stable. As the czar became concerned with the stability of Russia, he transferred some of Golovnin’s authority to the minister of the interior. Under the czar’s directive, the ministries of education and the interior shared responsibility for censorship. Additionally, the ministries could suspend any publication deemed dangerous for up to eight months and criticism of policies of the government was strictly controlled.

In November 1862, the Obolensky Commission provided its proposals for governmental reforms. It recommended control of censorship be transferred solely to the Ministry of the Interior, while simultaneously embracing the need for a free press, similar to the ones developing in Europe at the time. Although Golovnin strongly opposed the transfer of authority, Czar Alexander, faced with growing opposition and revolutionary sentiment in the country, enacted the proposal in March 1863.

With his newfound power, Count P. A. Valuev called for new laws on censorship. In April 1865, his wish was fulfilled and a new law on censorship was enacted. However, the law was not what Valuev had hoped for. Instead, it provided guarantees for the rights of the author and established legal frameworks, Western in nature, for the control of the press. Although the letter of the law was liberal, Valeuv continued his attempts to control the press. He brought many cases to court under the new legal framework, charging authors with libel or with threats to the security of the state, both of which were illegal under the new system.

The Last Czars

Despite Valeuv’s efforts, however, revolutionary movements continued to grow. When Alexander was assassinated in 1881, Alexander III acceded to the throne. Alexander III, a long-time supporter of strict policies of censorship, approved temporary measures on August 27, 1882. The temporary measures included provisions which allowed the censors to ban any topic from discussion in the press, and created a new fund which provided the government with cash to bribe newspapers. Nevertheless, the press continued to grow and provide challenges and opposition to governmental policies.

When Alexander III died in 1894, he was succeeded by Nicholas II, the last of the czars. By 1905, however, the press was operating without hinderance. Nicholas had given up his attempts to control the press. However, with the Revolution of 1905, he made one last attempt to regain control. On November 24, 1905, Nicholas passed a law called the charter of freedom. Under the new law, all censorship boards above the provincial level were dismantled. Responsibility for censorship was transferred to the editors, who were supposed to provide a copy of their publications for the local press affairs committee at the time it was released for general circulation. If a publication was deemed to contain illegal materials or deal with illegal issues, the remaining issues were seized. However, the law was widely ignored and for all practical purposes, the press operated freely until the 1917 Bolshevist Revolution that ended the Russian Empire.

Russia After the Soviet Period

After the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, the Russian government was faced with countless challenges. Among these problems was the emergence of the mafia powerful enough to control governmental policies. Indeed, the current governmental policies on censorship were quite liberal, yet control over the media and press was nevertheless maintained by the mafia. The problems faced by the Russian state were similar to the problems of the Italian state insofar as the degree of mafia influence and control was quite similar. An example of the degree of mafia control was provided by the assassination of Vladislav Listyev in 1994. Listyev, who was the most prominent and influential Russian reporter, was gunned down in the street for his investigations into the links among the media, advertising, and the mafia.

Government censorship increased in the years leading up to Russia's occupation of Crimea and its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine in the early 2000s. In 2008, the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies, and Mass Communication (Roskomnzadzor) was formed to oversee all media. At first more reserved, the agency gradually began to impose greater restrictions, especially regarding the Internet. Under President Vladimir Putin's reign in 2014, a controversial law known as the "bloggers law" was passed, which required any site with more than three thousand visitors to register with the government and ensure the accuracy of its content. By the time Russia entered an especially volatile political period due to the country's role in annexing Crimea and engaging in a conflict with Ukraine that same year, the Roskomnzadzor had compiled a central list of blacklisted and blocked sites accused of posting opposing views.

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