CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 11 mai 2021

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s39E5096F { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center } .s945796C9 { margin-top:54pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s24E6874 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:18pt; text-align:center } .sDC7C0B24 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding:1pt 4pt; font-size:11pt } .s2E1B62A9 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-align:center } .s10950C61 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s598389FB { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; font-size:14pt } .sF5E1C6CF { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline; color:#ff0000 } .sE208486F { font-family:Arial; color:#ff0000 } .s85016119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:11pt } .s4ACA9207 { page-break-before:always; clear:both; mso-break-type:section-break } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sB9D5CABB { width:28.35pt; display:inline-block } .s3AAE10DF { margin-top:14pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s3CA22BA { font-family:Arial; text-transform:uppercase } .s6B505E72 { margin:0pt; padding-left:0pt } .s586AA269 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:11.67pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:8.18pt; font-family:Arial; text-transform:uppercase } .s9D48DD53 { margin-top:6pt; margin-left:21.25pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:7.1pt; text-align:justify; font-size:10pt } .sCD7D0356 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:15pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:4.85pt; font-family:Arial; text-transform:uppercase } .s743F3A55 { margin-right:0pt; margin-left:0pt; padding-left:0pt } .s8C49A017 { margin-left:5.65pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-weight:bold; text-transform:none } .s5E8F5A28 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:25.5pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sCBF2D345 { margin-left:11.67pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:8.18pt; font-family:Arial; text-transform:uppercase } .s2044A09A { margin-left:6.51pt; margin-bottom:6pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:1.99pt; font-weight:normal; font-style:italic } .sAE6FB95D { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:32.01pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:1.99pt; font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sF54F3725 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:42.55pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-17.05pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .sDBC81028 { width:4.83pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s65DDED6B { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:42.55pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-17.05pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .s7AE800C3 { width:4.28pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sCD82236A { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:51.05pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-17.05pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; line-height:113%; font-size:10pt } .s3970C00F { width:8.17pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s695E2BCF { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:62.35pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-19.8pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .s16F6432D { width:7.9pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sFABD3260 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:62.35pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-19.8pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .sFF8BF293 { width:8.05pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s5311214D { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:65.2pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-3.4pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .s5E68D73D { font-family:Calibri } .s26226954 { width:5.13pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s3CAF9CA4 { width:8.72pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sA6765C01 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:62.35pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-11.3pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .sFA550501 { width:6.3pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s94384FCA { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:41.65pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; line-height:113%; font-size:10pt } .sE4EB4F8C { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:59.55pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-17.9pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .s6FC64B9D { width:2.78pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sC47DA4E2 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:18.34pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:1.51pt; font-family:Arial; text-transform:uppercase } .sD0489F03 { margin-top:6pt; margin-left:21.25pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:7.1pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:10pt } .sE485344B { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:28.6pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; padding-left:0.6pt; font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s74818F78 { margin-top:14pt; margin-bottom:3pt; text-align:justify; font-family:Arial; list-style-position:inside } .sE7B3A78A { width:1.99pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sFBC99493 { font-style:italic } .sD11CFAB7 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:15.01pt; margin-bottom:3pt; text-align:justify; padding-left:1.99pt; font-family:Arial } .s51DFF5CF { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:34pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .sE5BF05B1 { width:2.33pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s7F175FE6 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:51.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17.05pt; text-align:justify } .sE5C1F6E3 { width:3.33pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .s2D9C6089 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s69DCC830 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s499543FD { width:6.87pt; display:inline-block } .s46C79669 { width:202.1pt; display:inline-block } .s7602FED2 { width:18.21pt; display:inline-block } .sC1AC44A4 { width:228.11pt; display:inline-block }   THIRD SECTION CASE OF RID NOVAYA GAZETA AND ZAO NOVAYA GAZETA v.   RUSSIA (Application no. 44561/11)     JUDGMENT Art 10 • Freedom of expression • Use of caution procedure under anti-extremist legislation against applicant organisations concerning an article with quotations from manifesto of controversial nationalist group and symbols resembling Nazi ones • Recourse to this procedure designed to have a non-negligible chilling effect directly affecting freedom of expression, and particularly, in the present case, the freedom of the press • Domestic authorities’ failure to apply standards in conformity with principles embodied in Article 10 or to base their decisions on an acceptable assessment of the relevant facts • Interference with applicant organisations’ right to freedom of expression not “necessary in a democratic society”   STRASBOURG 11 May 2021   FINAL   11/08/2021   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of RID Novaya Gazeta and ZAO Novaya Gazeta v.   Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Paul Lemmens, President,   Georgios A. Serghides,   Dmitry Dedov,   María Elósegui,   Darian Pavli,   Anja Seibert-Fohr,   Peeter Roosma, judges, and Milan Blaško, Section Registrar, Having regard to: the application (no.   44561/11) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court on 25 May 2011 under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two organisations: Redaktsionno ‑ izdatelskiy dom Novaya Gazeta , (hereinafter “RID” or “the first applicant organisation”) and Izdatelskiy dom Novaya Gazeta (hereinafter “ZAO” or “the second applicant organisation”); the decision to give notice to the Russian Government (“the Government”) of the application; the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants; the comments submitted by the Media Legal Defence Initiative and the Mass Media Defence Centre, who were granted leave to intervene by the President of the Section; Having deliberated in private on 30 March 2021, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: INTRODUCTION 1.     The applicants alleged, in particular, that the caution procedure used against them under the anti-extremist legislation had amounted to an unlawful and disproportionate interference with their right to freedom of expression and that they had had no effective remedies in that respect. THE FACTS 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr Y.   Kozheurov, a lawyer practising in Moscow. 3.     The Russian Government were represented by Mr   A.   Fedorov, Head of the Office of the Representative of the Russian Federation   to   the European Court of Human Rights; Mr   G.   Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights;   and then by his successor in that office, Mr M. Galperin. 4.     The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 5.     The first applicant organisation is a non-governmental organisation, namely a publishing house. The second applicant organisation is a closed joint stock company. 6 .     The second applicant organisation was the founder of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper that it registered as a mass media outlet in 2006. In 2007 the second applicant organisation signed a contract with the first applicant organisation. Under that contract the first applicant organisation exercised the combined functions of the editorial board and publisher of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. Article entitled “Gang, agency, party. Who are the ‘Legal Nationalists’?” 7.     On 19 January 2009 a lawyer named Stanislav Markelov and a Novaya Gazeta correspondent named Anastasia Baburova were shot in the centre of Moscow. They had been known for their antifascist positions and they had cooperated in different ways with the editorial board of Novaya Gazeta . The matter received extensive media coverage. Two individuals who were allegedly close to ultra-right-wing nationalist organisations and associations were arrested as suspects and then charged with murder with motives based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity. 8.     On 20 January 2010 on the first anniversary of the above events, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper published an article entitled “Gang, agency, party. Who are the ‘Legal Nationalists’ [‘ легальные националисты’ ]?” written by Mr   N. 9.     The article was published in the section of the newspaper entitled “Investigation”. It consisted of two parts: a journalistic part authored by Mr   N. and a part entitled “Verbatim”, reporting an interview with Mr Go., coordinator of an organisation or group calling itself Russkiy Obraz (“RO” hereinafter). 10 .     The journalistic part of the article contained the following introduction: “Prior to the arrest of [two suspects] in relation to the murder of Markelov and Baburova, RO, a Slavophile organisation, was not known beyond a narrow circle of specialists studying fascism. [Suspect 1] is a co-founder of RO’s magazine, [suspect   2] is an activist with Russkiy Verdikt, [a group] which is affiliated with RO and which deals with legal and public relations issues around criminal proceedings against ultra ‑ rightists. Novaya Gazeta decided to find out what the organisations, to which the suspects in the public political execution of 19 January 2009 have been linked, actually are.” 11.     Exploring RO’s gradual transformation from a small secretive and informal grouping into a more structured and visible association, the article pointed out that since 2008 RO and “legal nationalists” had been taking various measures aimed at laying claim to legal status and a place in public politics. According to the author of the article, they had been seeking to implement that transformation in order to reinforce their propaganda of racist ideas (such as “Russia for Russians”) by seeking support and legitimation from people having the power; some of them were interested in interacting with those “legal nationalists” for “pacifying” the left-wing and liberal non-systemic opposition. Accordingly, RO had started to serve as an intermediary between the power and extremists and to present itself as being friendly with the Kremlin unlike some other (ultra-right-wing) organisations. 12 .     The journalistic part of the article included unedited quotations from RO’s official policy statement, which had been obtained through direct access to RO’s website. They read as follows: “Within their confined living areas the members of the aborigine non ‑ Slavic population have a right to pursue their lives on the basis of their national and religious traditions. Outside such areas the inhabitants are restricted in their civil rights.” “Male householders who join the self-defence groups are considered fully-fledged citizens.” “As to women, political rights are granted to those of them who take part in community life or, according to their own wishes, join the Guard Service.” “Inter-racial marriage is prohibited, being perceived as a full disregard for the fate of one’s own race.” Those quotes were preceded by the following statement: “RO asserts that it is not a fascist structure but a nationalist one. It threatens to sue anyone who calls them fascist. But so far it has not sued anyone. A political manifesto is posted on RO’s site. It is rather vague, but certain passages in it are not very supportive of the current legislation in Russia”. 13.     The article also contained photographs which, according to the author, were intended to demonstrate the close connections between RO activists and openly fascist organisations, and show their use of fascist symbols and greetings, or symbols and greetings which could be perceived as similar to fascist ones. One photograph showed people with their right arms being extended upwards with straight palms, and was accompanied by the following caption: “Y.V., RO’s press officer, performing a ‘Roman salute’”. Another photograph showed three people holding a flag with a symbol resembling the swastika, and was accompanied by the caption identifying them as members of S. and K., music bands that had taken part in concerts organised by RO. 14 .     The interview part of the article was accompanied by the following statement from the newspaper: “While carrying out research into RO, which is being linked to the murder of Markelov and Baburova, we decided to interview RO’s coordinator who was also interviewed as a witness in [the related criminal] proceedings. We consider his views unacceptable. Nevertheless, we are publishing an unedited extract of his interview for the newspaper (for the full version, see our website). We do this so that our readers can see for themselves who those ‘legal nationalists’ are ...” anti-extremism Caution procedure against the applicant organisations Caution issued by the media regulator 15 .     On 22 March 2010 two officials of the Rozkomnadzor, a federal executive agency regulating mass media outlets, issued a report ( заключение ) in relation to the above article. It read as follows: “[The article] describes the origin and the functioning of RO. The article is accompanied by two photographs, one of which shows people with their right arms being extended upwards with straight palms. That photograph is accompanied by the following caption: ‘Y.V., RO’s press officer, performing a “Roman salute”.’ That phrase refers to a gesture of welcome used by Italian fascists. The other photograph shows three men holding a poster showing symbols that are indistinguishable from Nazi symbols and attributes. The article contains provisions from RO’s political manifesto. The author provides no comment on those provisions. The only marker disclosing the author’s attitude toward them is the phrase ‘not very supportive of the current legislation in Russia’. However, some provisions of RO’s manifesto are contrary to Russian legislation rather than merely ‘not supportive’ of it ... Moreover, the article contains a direct quotation from the ‘Ethical code of a Russian nationalist’, one of RO’s charter documents. This quotation is placed together with photographs showing Nazi symbols; it is not connected to the content of the article and is not commented on in it. The above is contrary to the Russian Constitution ... The photograph and the information accompanying it contain indications of extremism ...” 16.     On 31 March 2010 the Rozkomnadzor issued a caution ( предупреждение ) in relation to the above article. That document was based on the Mass Media Act and the Suppression of Extremism Act (see paragraphs 29-30 and 34-35 below). The caution was addressed both to Novaya Gazeta ’s editorial board (that is the first applicant organisation) and to the second applicant organisation. 17 .     The caution read as follows: “The impugned article was examined by experts who concluded that it contained statements aimed at inciting social, racial and ethnic discord and propagated the concept of superiority or inferiority on account of one’s social, ethnic or racial origin: ‘Within their confined living areas the members of the aborigine non ‑ Slavic population have a right to pursue their lives on the basis of their national and religious traditions. Outside such areas the inhabitants are restricted in their civil rights.’ ‘Male householders who join the self-defence groups are considered fully-fledged citizens.’ ‘As to women, political rights are granted to those of them who take part in community life or, according to their own wishes, join the Guard Service.’ ‘Inter-racial marriage is prohibited, being perceived as a full disregard for the fate of one’s own race.’ In the experts’ view, the photographs accompanying the article contained elements of propaganda and public visual presentations of symbols resembling Nazi symbols ... Section 1 of the [Suppression of Extremism Act] defines extremist activity as inciting racial, ethnic, religious or social discord; the promotion and public display of Nazi attributes or symbols, or attributes or symbols which are similar to Nazi attributes or symbols to the point of becoming indistinguishable. Thus, Novaya Gazeta ’s editorial board has disseminated information containing indications of extremism ... Section 4 of the Mass Media Act and section 11 of the Suppression of Extremism Act prohibit using mass media outlets for engaging in extremist activities ... [Roskomnadzor] has the competence to apply measures of a preventive nature in order to avoid violations of the requirements in this area and to remedy the consequences of such violations ...” 18 .     The caution concluded as follows: “Thus, pursuant to section 16 of the Mass Media Act and section 8 of the Suppression of Extremism Act we issue this Caution to Novaya Gazeta ’s editorial board, stating that it is not acceptable to violate the law.” Judicial review 19.     The applicant organisations sought judicial review of the Rozkomnadzor’s caution under Chapter 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The applicant organisations argued that it was necessary to take into account the context and the legitimate purpose and aim of the article, and that the statements which the applicant organisations had been accused of making constituted carefully chosen verbatim quotes used in order to support the proposition that RO’s activity had an unlawful character. The purpose of the article had been to counteract the views professed by nationalist organisations, to expose them, to demonstrate their antisocial and unlawful essence, and thus to draw the attention of the public and the law ‑ enforcement agencies to the activities of associations promoting such views. 20.     According to the Government, at that stage of the court proceedings, the Roskomnadzor had adduced in evidence the expert report relied on in the caution (see paragraph   15 above). According to the applicant organisations, that report had first been adduced in evidence at a later stage, during the appeal hearing. 21.     In its judgment of 20 September 2010 the Taganskiy District Court of Moscow dismissed the claim. The court endorsed the regulator’s conclusions, finding that the impugned parts of the article had aimed to incite social, racial and national discord and to put forward ideas of superiority or inferiority on the grounds of a person’s social status, race or membership of a national group. The court was satisfied that the impugned parts of the article fell within the scope of “extremist material” under the Suppression of Extremism Act. The court concluded that the applicant organisations’ “rights or freedoms” had not been violated by the issuing of the caution. 22.     The applicant organisations lodged an appeal with the Moscow City Court. 23 .     That court granted the applicant organisations’ motion and admitted into evidence an expert report dated 7 November 2010 prepared by a panel of three renowned specialists in philology and linguistics, in collaboration with the Guild of Expert Linguists for Documentary and Information Disputes. The panel’s report contained the following conclusions: “1. The article is written in the genre of journalistic investigation and can be categorised as political discourse in the journalistic style of written speech. One particularity of the investigative genre is that the journalist uncovers information on certain events or situations which have a social significance that the participants would like to conceal from broad publicity. 2. The functional purpose of the article is to achieve critical and analytical goals and exposure, first and foremost by drawing the attention of the public and the authorities to a politically significant problem – namely the existence and active functioning of RO in a way which the author assumes violates current legislation, and also by reviewing the fascist (according to the author’s hypothesis) essence of that organisation. 3. Examined in the context of the article, the statements published in the article and which are quoted in the caution ... aimed to achieve the goal of drawing the attention of the public and the law-enforcement authorities to one of the manifestations of RO’s activity which the author considers to be illegal. The disputed statements quoted in the caution form part of RO’s political manifesto and they are laid out in the text to provide a basis for the arguments in favour of the author’s hypothesis that RO’s ideology is actually fascist, and that the activity of RO is unlawful in nature. Thus, in the informational structure of the text being studied, the disputed statements perform the function of documentary illustration – one of the elements with the assistance of which the author justifies his hypothesis regarding the unlawful character of RO’s activity. Without such justification, the author’s hypothesis would appear to be purely conjecture, and it would be unclear to a reader what the author was talking about and why he considered RO’s activity to be unlawful. In the context of the article, these statements cannot be considered as intending to incite social, racial or national discord, or to promote the exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of a person on the basis of his or her social, national or racial identity/origin. The use of a widely known slogan in the text – the well-established phrase “Russia for Russians” – is not accompanied by any positive evaluation; there is no information which justifies or clarifies its content. The slogan has been used as part of the statements necessary for the reader to understand the reasons for the author’s view that RO has crossed over and taken a place among independently acting political forces. Such usage cannot be considered to be an aspect of promoting the idea expressed by the slogan. The text of the article did not quote other statements, words or phrases which have any characteristics aiming to incite social, racial or national discord or to promote the exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of a person on the basis of his or her social, national or racial identity/origin, or to create a real threat of harming public safety. 4. When examined in context, the photographs, which were published to illustrate the text of the article, seek to achieve the following purposes: • drawing the attention of the public and the law-enforcement authorities to one of the manifestations of RO’s activity which is considered to be unlawful in the opinion of the author – namely Combat 18 – as well as to the individuals depicted in the photographs; • assisting in the recognition of RO as a secret Nazi organisation which possesses a definite style characterised by the entire range of associated Nazi emblems. In the informational structure of the article, the photographs perform the function of an element assisting the author in justifying his hypothesis regarding the unlawful character of RO’s activity, along with that of related organisations. Without such a justification, the author’s hypothesis would appear to be purely conjecture, and it would be unclear to a reader what the author was talking about and why he considered the activity of these organisations to be unlawful. The gestures and graphic forms which are represented in the photographs are used in the article to expose them for critical and analytical purposes, which differ from the public demonstration of such gestures and graphic forms, and in the overall context they cannot be considered to be elements promoting Nazi symbols or symbols which are confusingly similar to Nazi ones.” 24.     On 30 November 2010 the Moscow City Court upheld the first ‑ instance judgment. Having quoted the relevant provisions of the legislation, it held as follows: “... [the appeal court] finds no reason to set aside the first-instance judgment ... The report submitted by the Rozkomnadzor confirms that the article contained elements of an extremist activity ... The claimants’ disagreement with the court’s assessment of the evidence is not sufficient for setting aside the judgment.” 25.     On 1 February and 19 April 2011 a judge of the City Court and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dismissed, in a summary manner, the applicants’ applications for supervisory review in respect of the above court decisions. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE Russian law Freedom of expression Constitution of the Russian Federation 26.     Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees the right to freedom of thought and expression, as well as freedom to freely seek, receive, transfer and spread information by any legal means. 27 .     Article 55 of the Constitution provides that rights and freedoms may be limited by federal statute only in so far as is necessary to protect the foundations of the constitutional regime, the morals, health, rights and legitimate interests of others, and to ensure national defence and security. Mass Media Act 1991 28.     Subject to the exceptions set out in the provisions of the legislation concerning the mass media, section 1 of Federal Law no. 2124-1 of 27   December 1991 (the “Mass Media Act”) prohibits restrictions on the freedom to seek, receive, produce and disseminate mass information or to found and manage a mass media outlet. 29 .     Section 4 prohibits the use of media outlets for the commission of criminal offences, for disclosing State secrets or other protected categories of secret information, for disseminating material containing public calls to engage in terrorist activity or calls publicly justifying terrorism or other extremist material or information containing propaganda of the cult of violence and cruelty. 30 .     Section 16 provides that the activity of a media outlet may be terminated or suspended only by a decision of its founder or by a court acting at the request of the regulatory authority on account of repeated violations, over a period of twelve months, of the requirements set out in section 4 of the Act, in respect of which the regulatory authority has issued a caution ( предупреждение ) to the founder and/or the editorial board (or the editor-in-chief) in writing. The activities of media outlets may also be terminated using the procedures and on the grounds provided for in the Suppression of Extremism Act. 31.     Pursuant to Ruling no. 16 of 15 June 2010 by the Plenary Supreme Court of Russia (paragraph 28 of the Ruling), the question of an alleged abuse of media freedom should be decided by taking into account the wording of the article and the context in which the impugned statements were made, together with the purpose, genre and style of the article and whether the statements could be deemed to constitute an expression of opinion in the field of political discussion or to draw attention to the discussion of socially significant issues. The answer to that question will also depend on whether the article was based on an interview and on the attitude taken by the interviewer or the representatives of the media outlet’s editorial board to the opinions, judgments and assertions thereby expressed. It should also take into account the social and political situation in the country as a whole or in an individual part of it (depending on the region where the publication in question is distributed). Suppression of Extremism Act 2002 32 .     The preamble to Federal Law no.   114-FZ on Combating Extremist Activity, 25 July 2002 (the “Suppression of Extremism Act”) explains that the Act provides for liability for extremist activity and aims to protect individual rights and freedoms, the foundations of the constitutional regime and ensure the integrity and security of the Russian Federation. 33 .     Section 1 of the Suppression of Extremism Act defines extremist activity as, inter alia , inciting racial, ethnic, religious or social discord, as well as the promotion and public display of Nazi attributes or symbols, or attributes or symbols which are similar to Nazi attributes or symbols to the point of becoming indistinguishable. 34 .     Section 8 of the Act authorises a competent public agency to issue the founder of a mass media outlet and/or its editorial board (via the editor) with a caution ( предупреждение ) indicating that it is not acceptable to disseminate extremist materials or engage in extremist activities. The caution has to indicate specific grounds for its issue, including details of specific violations committed by the mass media outlet. Where it is possible to take measures to remedy the violations, the caution has to set a time-limit for doing so. If it fails to remedy the violations or where another caution is issued within twelve months, the mass media outlet’s activity must be blocked in accordance with the applicable procedure. 35 .     Section 11 of the Act provides that it is prohibited to disseminate – via mass media outlets – extremist materials or to carry out extremist activities. In the circumstances outlined in section 8 of the Act the activity of a mass media outlet can be discontinued. In order to put an end to the dissemination of extremist materials a court may suspend the operation of a mass media outlet. 36 .     In decision no. 2480-O of 23 October 2014 the Constitutional Court of Russia considered that the prohibition of the display of Nazi or Nazi-like symbols aimed to counter Nazism, extremism, fascism and other actions which are offensive to the memory of the victims who died in the Great Patriotic War and which are associated with that prohibited ideology. The mere use of such symbols, irrespective of their genesis, could cause suffering to family members of the people who had died in the Great Patriotic War. The relevant legislation aimed to ensure peace between national groups, harmonise inter-ethnic relations and protect the rights of others. 37.     The Constitutional Court stated that, while the Russian Constitution did indeed protect freedom of expression, it also expressly prohibited propaganda inciting social, racial, ethnic or religious discord as well as the promotion of the concept of social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic superiority. The legislation in question therefore could not and did not offend individual rights or freedoms (decisions nos. 940-O-O of 18   December 2007, and 1271 ‑ O-O of 19 June 2012). Courts should take into account the actual or implied contradiction between the impugned actions (or, in the present case, documents) and the constitutional prohibition of incitement of discord and the like, bearing in mind the content and form of the impugned activities or information, its target audience and the intended message, the social and political context, and the presence of real danger, for instance, in relation to calls for unlawful interferences with constitutional values (decision no. 1053-O of 2   July 2013). As such and as applied, restrictions on the freedom of expression and the freedom to impart information should not ensue merely because the impugned activity or information does not conform with mainstream, well ‑ established or traditional views or opinions, or conflicts with moral or religious preferences (ibid.). Judicial review 38 .     For a summary of the applicable legislative provisions and judicial practice in relation to judicial review under Chapter 25 of the Russian Code of Civil Procedure (“the CCP”), see Roman Zakharov v. Russia ([GC], no.   47143/06, §§   92-100, ECHR 2015), and Lashmankin and Others v.   Russia (nos.   57818/09 and 14   others, §§ 276-88, 7 February 2017). Other material 39.     On 8 December 2015 the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) adopted General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on combating hate speech (for relevant summaries, see among others, Atamanchuk v. Russia , no. 4493/11, § 29, 11   February 2020, and Karastelev and Others v. Russia , no. 16435/10, §§   44-45, 6   October 2020). 40.     Opinion no. 660/2011 on the Federal Law on Combating Extremist Activity of the Russian Federation was adopted by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) at its 91st Plenary Session held in Venice on 15-16 June 2012, CDL ‑ AD(2012)016-e (Opinion of the Venice Commission) (for relevant summaries, see among others, Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia , no.   38004/12, § 102, 17 July 2018, and Karastelev and Others , cited above, § 46). THE LAW Alleged violation of Article 10 of the Convention 41.     Referring to Article 10 of the Convention, the applicant organisations complained that the anti-extremism caution issued to them had amounted to an unlawful and disproportionate interference with their freedom of expression, and in particular their freedom to impart the results of investigative journalistic work intended to describe, by adopting a critical stance, ideologies and activities pertaining to the object of the investigation. They also complained that the domestic authorities, including the courts, had failed to establish the relevant facts and to provide relevant and sufficient reasoning in compliance with the standards set out in Article 10 of the Convention and that the courts had confined their review to formal and procedural legalities without considering the issues of necessity and proportionality. 42.     Article 10 of the Convention in its relevant parts reads as follows: “1.     Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers ... 2.     The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.” Admissibility 43.     It has not been contested that each applicant organisation’s right to freedom of expression was at stake in the domestic proceedings. The Court finds no reason to reach a different conclusion. In particular, as regards the second applicant, the Court notes that the anti-extremism caution was addressed to it as the founder of a media outlet (a newspaper) on account of the content published by the outlet’s editorial board (that is, by the first applicant). By providing the first applicant with a medium in the form of that media outlet the second applicant participated in the exercise of the freedom of expression as protected by Article 10 § 1 of the Convention (compare OOO   Flavus and Others v. Russia , nos. 12468/15 and 2 others, §§   4 and 29, 23 June 2020). 44.     The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article   35   §   3   (a) of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible. Merits The parties’ submissions (a)    The applicant organisations 45.     The applicant organisations argued that the notions of “extremist activity” and “extremist material” were vague and therefore that the Suppression of Extremism Act afforded unfettered discretion to the media regulator to interpret and apply them. The applicant organisations could not have reasonably foreseen that a newspaper article unmasking the extremist activities of a neo-Nazi organisation would itself be classified as “extremist”. 46.     The caution procedure did not pursue the legitimate aims of preventing disorder, the protection of order ( общественный порядок ) or of safety or public morals. The authorities had adduced no evidence that the article was, at the very least, capable of giving rise to any public disturbances or any affront to public morals.   Neither the national authorities, nor the Government in their submissions before the Court, had substantiated their assertion that the article could incite the creation of organisations that would disseminate ideas of superiority or inferiority on account of one’s social, ethnic or racial origin. 47.     The quotations from RO’s manifesto and the photographs of its members had been used in the article with the aim of focusing the attention of the reader and the law-enforcement agencies on the extremist nature of RO’s activities and of supporting the message put forward in the article. The photographs had been taken from RO’s website and had been meant to be evidence of RO’s adherence to an ideology that was close to the Nazi ideology. 48.     Both the author of the article and the applicant organisations had displayed due diligence by clearly distancing themselves from the Nazi ideology and from RO’s ideas and principles. The Novaya Gazeta newspaper had demonstrated a longstanding and consistent anti-Nazi and anti-nationalist position that had been stated in numerous articles. The article in question had aimed to investigate RO’s activities in the context of the cooperation between its members and those persons who were suspected of murdering Novaya Gazeta ’s journalist and a lawyer who had had a close relationship with the newspaper. Beyond that, the article had contained multiple passages clearly indicating the newspaper’s disapproval of RO. Thus even a first-time reader of the newspaper could not have perceived even a neutral attitude toward RO on the part of the newspaper from the content of the article. 49.     The complete and automatic ban on the public representation of Nazi or similar symbols or attributes did not take into account any specific context or aim being pursued by such representation. Such a ban could – and actually did in the present case – impede the legitimate aim of combating manifestations of neo-nationalism. The anti-fascist and anti ‑ nationalist stance of Novaya Gazeta was well known and had been expressed in numerous editions that had alerted society to the rise of nationalist trends and to related offences committed by people affiliated with nationalist or fascist movements. Novaya Gazeta had been one of the first media outlets to highlight the dangers of the authorities’ “play” with such organisations, including by way of granting them legal status. Moreover, the article had been the result of a journalistic investigation into the murder of people who had collaborated with the newspaper. Thus there could be no mistake as to the newspaper’s opposition to fascist, nationalist or Nazi ideas or as to its negative attitude toward RO. The activities of RO’s members had been described as “nationalist”, “Nazi”, “fascist”, “Hitler ‑ type” and “military”. The plain meaning of those words had a manifestly negative connotation, underscoring the unlawful nationalist sentiments of the movement. 50.     While in justifying the findings contained within the caution the media regulator had referred to “expert conclusions”, no such evidence had been presented prior to the appeal stage of the review proceedings against the caution (see paragraph 15 above). 51.     The judicial review of the caution had been confined to ascertaining formal compliance with the rules relating to competence and procedure and had overlooked all aspects pertaining to necessity and proportionality vis ‑ à ‑ vis freedom of expression. 52.     The damaging “chilling effect” of such a caution consisted in the assessment of the applicant organisations’ activity as unlawful and also the threat of further penalties or prosecution. A second caution within the same year could have put an end to the newspaper’s circulation. The resulting position undermined the “public watchdog” role of the press, increased the fear of self-censorship and impeded investigative journalism aiming to fight neo-nationalist tendencies. (b)    The Government 53.     The author of the article had not put forward a clearly negative attitude toward the circumstances described in the article. It was only in the commentary to the interview, which did not form an integral part of the impugned article, of the presumed leader of RO that the author of the article had expressed his disapproval of that person’s ideas. In line with the requirement of responsible journalism, the author should have expressed clear disagreement with the extremist ideas discussed in the article. Thus, the author of the article and the applicant organisations had not complied with their respective “duties and responsibilities” by distancing themselves from the extremist ideology, and its ideas and principles. The article could incite the creation of organisations that would disseminate ideas of superiority or inferiority on account of one’s social, ethnic or racial origin. 54.     The caution procedure pursued the aims of protecting the foundations of the constitutional regime, order ( общественный порядок ), the prevention of disorder, the protection of morals and the rights of others. 55.     The impugned caution had not required the applicant organisations to take any particular action. The alleged interference with their right to freedom of expression had thus been proportionate. 56.     The Government argued that the legislative ban on publicly displaying Nazi or similar symbols aimed to avoid “suffering on the part of people whose relatives had died during the Great Patriotic War” and to “fight Nazism, extremism, fascism and other actions insulting the memory of victims of the Great Patriotic War”. (c)    Third parties 57.     The Media Legal Defence Initiative and the Mass Media Defence Centre submitted that the free press has a particular importance in reporting on extremist or controversial views or behaviour. Reportage in respect of such views was to be distinguished from the promotion or validation of such views. Media self-regulation should be preferred as a less restrictive means of regulating the exercise of freedom of expression by media outlets. There is international consensus that States should secure the independence of media self-regulators in order to safeguard the right to freedom of expression, inter alia , as regards appointment of members of such organisations. Media regulation, through agencies established and run by the State, threatened the free press; measures such as cautions issued by the Russian media regulator produce a substantial “chilling effect” on journalists and media organisations. Such measures are designed to put pressure on media outlets to refrain from reporting on certain sensitive issues as they expect that this might trigger another warning or caution or lead to other adverse consequences such as suspension or revocation of a media outlet’s licence. The Court’s assessment (a)    Nature and scope of the “interference” 58.     The Court reiterates that “interference” by the authorities with the exercise of the freedom of expression may take various forms by way of “formalities, conditions, restrictions [and] penalties” under Article 10 § 2 of the Convention (see Novikova and Others v. Russia , nos. 25501/07 and   4   others, § 106, 26 April 2016).   For instance, a prior ban can have a chilling effect   on those who may intend to participate in a rally and thus amount to an interference, even if the rally subsequently proceeds without hindrance on the part of the authorities (see Navalnyy v. Russia [GC], nos.   29580/12 and 4   others, § 103, 15 November 2018). A penalty consisting in a warning issued to a private broadcasting company for disseminating content in breach of an applicable statute constituted an “interference” under Article   10 § 1 of the Convention on account of, inter alia , its effect of putting pressure on the applicant company so that it abstained from broadcasting content which might be perceived as contrary to the interests of the State (see Özgür Radyo-Ses Radyo Televizyon Yayın Yapım Ve Tanıtım A.Ş. v. Turkey (no. 1) , nos.   64178/00 and 4 others, § 73, 30 March 2006). In addition, the Court noted in that case that a second warning could have entailed a temporary suspension of all broadcasting by that applicant company (compare with Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft and Others v. Switzerland (dec.), no.   68995/13, §§ 70-81, 12 November 2019 as regards the existence of an “interference”). 59.     Furthermore, even in the absence of any actual penalty or the like, an individual may nevertheless argue that a law breaches his or her rights in the absence of a specific instance of enforcement, and thus claim to be a “victim”, within the meaning of Article 34 of the Convention, if he or she is required either to modify his or her conduct or risk being prosecuted, or if he or she is a member of a category of persons who risk being directly affected by the legislation (see S.A.S. v. France [GC], no. 43835/11, §§ 57 and 110, ECHR   2014 (extracts)). 60.     In the present case the applicant organisations were issued with a caution under the provisions of the Suppression of Extremism Act and the Mass Media Act (see paragraph 17 above). While the caution document was addressed to both organisations, it was the first applicant organisation that was its direct target in so far as that organisation acted as the newspaper’s editorial board (see paragraphs 6 and 18 above). Both applicant organisations had the standing to challenge it by means of judicial review and did so. 61.     While they were not found guilty of any administrative or criminal o