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BAN from searching for INFO on the NET? 🇷🇺❌️

In Russia, they'll start fining for searching on the Net for extremist materials and advertising VPNs. It'll come into force in September 2025. Until now, Russian law didn't prohibit searching for any information on the Internet; only the creation or distribution of prohibited content was punishable.

⚖️ According to the law, now if a person deliberately searches for something from the federal list of extremist materials on the Net including using VPN, he or she risks receiving a fine of up to ₽5000.

🔥 This news caused a great stir.

Some experts note the list contains as many as ≈ 5500 publications. Moreover, their descriptions are rather vague - it's not always possible to understand what exactly is prohibited. The authors of the bill emphasize that to recognize the search for such material as an offense, INTENT is required. Some believe it's not entirely clear how intent will be proven.

Another aspect that remains unsolved is that no professional exemptions are provided for, e. g., journalists, lawyers and scientists who need such access for their work.

😮💨 But officials say that simply scrolling through Instagram/Facebook won't result in punishment, unless you're specifically looking for, e. g., biographies of terrorists.

How to DEAL with Russians? Cultural DIFFERENCES 🇷🇺👥🤝

You yourself have probably noticed that what may cause surprise or irritation in one nation may be perceived by another nation quite calmly. Or that one nation may pay too much attention to an aspect of life that another nation practically doesn't care about. Here we will talk about Russians in particular - how to interact with them, how to understand their mentality, and compare them with other countries and ethnic groups. We took as a basis the main theories of intercultural communication.

👀➡ HOFSTEDE'S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS THEORY

Famous sociologist Geert Hofstede identified several key dimensions of culture:
✏ POWER DISTANCE INDEX
✏ INDIVIDUALISM VS. COLLECTIVISM
✏ MASCULINITY VS. FEMININITY
✏ UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE INDEX
✏ LONG-TERM VS. SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION

Russia has traditionally been characterized by a high power distance, which manifests itself in respect for authority and hierarchy. Unlike Western countries such as the United States or Scandinavian countries, which value equality and democratic interaction, Russians maintain a strong respect for status and power.

In terms of collectivism, Russia is slightly closer to Eastern European and Asian countries than to individualistic Western countries. This is reflected in the importance of family ties, community values, and collective decisions, including due to the influence of the USSR ideology. Collectivism was especially pronounced in the past, but now there is a tendency towards individualization of society.

Uncertainty avoidance means the degree of perception of unfamiliar situations. Countries with a high value of this indicator try to avoid them, establish clear rules, trust in traditions, and don't always tolerate people with a different life position. And countries with a low value show personal initiative and risk. Russians are uncertainty avoidant, as are people in the United States, Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America, Japan and German-speaking countries.

Masculinity vs. Femininity. Masculinity means that in society, persistence, self-confidence and ambitions are valued. It's typical of the USA, Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Germany and Italy. In feminine cultures, modesty and caring are valued. Such traits characterize the Scandinavian countries, Japan, Holland and France. Russia also belongs to the second group.

The last scale is called «Short and Long-Term Orientation». Cultures with low scores on this scale, such as Japan, South Korea or Israel, tend to maintain centuries-old traditions and norms and treat any changes with great caution, as well as encourage frugality and plan for the future decades ahead. Meanwhile, people in the USA, Canada, Australia, and, of course, Russia believe that truth depends on the situation, so long-term planning isn't very useful. They more easily adapt traditions to changing conditions and don't try to find a universal truth, but at the same time are less inclined to accumulate resources.

Want to learn more about different classifications? Watch our video (also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/V9wNsUDWxJU ) or read the article on our website ( https://rlaw.site/how-to-deal-with-russians-cultural-differences )