🧠 In Russia, even thinking freely is becoming a crime Yesterday, the Russian State Duma passed a law so vague and absurd that even Putin himself probably couldn't explain how it actually works. Starting in just over a month, Russian citizens will face: ▪️ Fines up to 50,000 rubles for intentionally searching for "prohibited" information; ▪️ A 500+ page blacklist of forbidden content, constantly expanding like a Kafkaesque hydra; ▪️ Risk of being labeled an extremist just for opening a link to a banned site; ▪️ Penalties for VPN use or even for advertising VPN services; ▪️ A ban on sharing your SIM card — because in Russia, your phone now belongs to the State, not you; ▪️ The threat of losing all your logins, passwords, online games and subscriptions — welcome to the Great Digital Expropriation. To be clear: “extremist materials” in this context often means truth — especially if it unmasks Russian lies. If you search for independent journalism, satellite photos of Russian atrocities, or even try to figure out what your government is hiding — you’re now a criminal. No other dictatorship has gone this far into criminalizing the act of seeking information itself. North Korea punishes curiosity, but Russia now fines you for typing the wrong word into Google. It's not censorship anymore — it’s preemptive punishment for intent. And all of it is wrapped in the usual Orwellian double-speak: they say it's to “protect society.” In truth, it’s to ensure that no one ever dares to think for themselves again.