An elderly man in Russia has been fined 30,000 rubles after liking YouTube videos that ‘discredit’ the Russian army.
Everyone uses YouTube likes and favourites in different ways. You might like or favorite a video so that you can go back to it from time to time, or you just like it so that it helps your favorite content creator.
However, according to Verstka, a 72-year-old man has been fined for liking two separate videos on YouTube in Russia. The 72-year-old, whose name is Vasily Yovdy, did not appear in court over the charge but was fined by a judge in Russia’s Arctic Murmansk region.
“He fully admits his guilt, repents of his actions, and asks not to be severely punished,” the judge’s report said of Yovdy’s absence from court.
72-year-old fined 30,000 rubles over YouTube likes
As per the report, the court classified Yovdiy’s actions as “public” and fined him 30,000 rubles, which amounts to $387 or £283. Despite likes and channel activity being private, the judge concluded that if the video was distributed by a “foreign agent,” it constituted “discrediting.”
Evgeny Smirnov, a lawyer for the “First Department” project, told Verstka that using the like as a comment creates an “interesting construct” too.
“The court also invented an interesting construct here—a comment in the form of a like. I don’t consider the like itself to be a public act aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The person didn’t express any personal opinion or disseminate information,” he said.
That could leave the door open for future cases where the precedent has been set, where a like, or even a favorite, is seen as a supporting act and spreading the message.
If he doesn’t pay the fine within a set period, Yovdiy risks having to pay 60,000 rubles instead, fifteen days in prison, or potentially compulsory work for up to fifty hours.
