December 14, 2023

A QR Crackdown


A QR Crackdown
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny being detained on Tverskaya street in Moscow, 2017. Evgeny Feldman, Wikimedia Commons.

The Moscow Department of Media and Advertising has banned the placement of QR codes on billboards in what appears to be a direct response to recent protest actions by associates of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

On December 6, in prominent locations across the city, Navalny's allies hung banners that featured QR codes redirecting those who scanned them to the website "Russia without Putin."

"I ask all advertisers to exclude the use of QR codes. The placement of a QR code that works as a link to an internet resource containing different and changeable content may contain information that violates the 'On Advertising' law, especially taking into account the increase in hacker attacks and hacking of information systems and sites," wrote Ivan Shubin, head of the Moscow Department of Media and Advertising.

The move is the latest in an escalating campaign to suppress dissent. Navalny's associates have embraced new technologies like QR codes to spread their message without triggering criminal charges for unsanctioned gatherings. Some see it as an innovative means to speak the truth in an increasingly repressive regime. For authorities, that creativity itself is now the target of new laws. With this prohibition on protest billboards, the already narrow space for political speech has become even tighter.

According to Sirena, Vyacheslav Gimadi, a lawyer with Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), noted that Moscow authorities do not have the legal right to prohibit QR codes on billboards. At most, city officials can issue non-binding recommendations against placing QR codes, rather than enacting an outright ban. So, while authorities are attempting to discourage the use of this tactic, their threats may have more bark than bite.

You Might Also Like

Repression Impacts Lawyers
  • October 17, 2023

Repression Impacts Lawyers

A court in Moscow has ordered the arrest of lawyers representing Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, charging them with participation in an "extremist community."
Navalny, Lexiconvict
  • September 06, 2023

Navalny, Lexiconvict

The Russian Supreme Court upholds a Kafkaesque ban on Navalny using prison slang.
Navalny Launches Antiwar Campaign
  • June 21, 2023

Navalny Launches Antiwar Campaign

Politician and political prisoner Alexei Navaly is launching a "big propaganda machine" to counter Putin and pro-war propaganda.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955