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Russian Supreme Court Clarifies Internet Extremism Charges

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Russia's Supreme Court has issued a statement to clarify the topic of Internet extremism, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported Thursday.

Judges have been instructed to examine all circumstances of such cases in greater detail, particularly in cases that involve the sharing of allegedly extremist material on social media. 

The Supreme Court recommended that in such cases, the court should "take into account the context, form, and content of the information available, and the presence of any commentary or expressions related to it."

In the past two years, several Russian citizens have been sentenced for sharing "extremist" material on social networks. In May, Tver resident Andrei Bubeyev was sentenced to two years and three months in prison for sharing material about Crimea. The court claimed the material was extremist and that it called for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity. 

Last year a resident of Krasnodar was sentenced to two years in a penal colony for publishing material online that the court alleged supported "separatism."

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