Russia seeks to save pre-designation books from banned groups
Russian ministries are discussing legal measures to preserve books published by 'undesirable' organizations and foreign agents before they received those designations, as current laws could force libraries to remove 50–70% of their collections.
Consensus
- Ministry of Digital Development (Minцифры) is discussing with other agencies the possibility of legally preserving books published by 'undesirable' and 'foreign agent' organizations before they received those statuses.
- The current law prohibits the distribution of books from such organizations regardless of publication date.
- If the law is strictly enforced, municipal libraries would need to remove 50–70% of the book collection.
- Scientific libraries would need to remove 10–15% of their collections.
- The discussion involves the Ministry of Justice, the FSB, and the Presidential Administration.
- No final decision has been made yet.
- The initiative is driven by concerns over the removal of socially significant books, including those from the 1990s involving organizations like the Soros Foundation and World Wildlife Fund.
- Universities such as Yale, Berkeley, and Stanford are also listed as 'undesirable' and publish textbooks in science fields.
- Even books with indirect involvement (e.g., translators, illustrators) from such organizations are being treated as banned.
Points of divergence
- The draft report from Minцифры states that the law's enforcement could lead to the removal of 50–70% from municipal libraries and 10–15% from scientific libraries. — meduza
- The report from Minцифры indicates that municipal libraries may lose 50–70% of funds due to the law. — tg_chertamedia
- The 'publishers' case' began in 2025, with publishers charged for distributing 'queer literature'. — meduza
- The 'publishers' case' resulted in verdicts issued in summer of the current year. — meduza
- In May, prosecutors removed Bibles published by the 'Mission Eurasia' religious organization from a bookstore the day after it was declared 'undesirable'. — tg_paperpaper_ru
- The book market faced large-scale censorship after the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war began. — meduza
- The children's book series 'Pettson and Findus' received an 18+ age rating due to the translator being listed as a foreign agent. — tg_chertamedia
Coverage (7 sources)
- In Mincyfry want to keep in libraries already published books of 'undesirable' organizations - 'Kommersant' — Бумага
- Government wants to legalize already published books of 'foreign agents' and 'undesirable' organizations (they make up more than half of library collections) — Meduza
- Libraries may lose 50-70% of their collections due to publishers being designated as foreign agents or undesirable organizations — Черта
- Municipal libraries may exclude 50–70% of their collection from access — Коммерсантъ
- What the Ministry of Digital Development wants to do with books by 'foreign agents' — Дождь
- Ministry of Digital Economy wants to keep already published books on 'foreign agents' and 'undesirable' organizations. Otherwise 50-7... will disappear from libraries — Дождь (Telegram)
- Ministry of Digital Economy tries to prevent total removal from the market of books by foreign agents — Коммерсантъ
Key entities
- Ministry of Digital Development
- Ministry of Digital Development
- Commerzant
- Vladimir Grigoryev
- MVD
- Ministry of Justice
- Soros Foundation
- World Wildlife Fund
- U
- Libraries
- Russia
- Ministry of Digital Development
- Information
More on Ministry of Digital Development
- 27 Russian Regions May Lose Local Internet Providers
- Russia to Expand 'Alice AI' Access on Devices
- Russia Proposes New Digital Certificate System