Problematic Aspects of the Legal Regulation of the «Cancel Culture» in Russia

The paper presents the characteristics of ‘cancellation culture’ as a destructive social phenomenon violating the fundamental legal principles: the presumption of innocence, the right to the access to justice, freedom of thought and speech, the right to labor and creativity and some others.

The methodological framework of the study is based on the universal scholarly dialectical method, which was implemented for the detailed analysis of the object and subject of the study. The research also involved the application of historical-legal and formal-logical methods, as well as concrete-sociological, systemic and comparative analyses.

Such form has been shown as an obvious foundation for subsequent degradation of society, negating all the achievements of mankind in the realm of rights and freedoms. The trend has been identifi ed towards the development of ‘cancellation culture’ in Russia. At the same time, Russian legislation has not had enough time to respond to this challenge: new norms have not been introduced, and the existing ones cannot be properly implemented. The reason for this is believed to be a lack of awareness of the danger of the ‘cancellation culture’ gaining popularity and people’s somewhat frivolous attitude to its consequences. This is evidenced, in particular, by the almost complete absence of judicial intervention in the most high-profi le cases of the ‘cancellation culture’.

The paper analyzes the current administrative and criminal legislation of the Russian Federation to identify appropriate mechanisms to combat the «cancel culture». The author suggests the solutions for supplementing legislation to ensure legal protection of individuals from the negative effects of the «cancel culture» to be employed in law enforcement, legislative and human rights activities, as well as in further academic research into this issue as well as some related problems.

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