Protesters in Moscow criticize ban of anime festival in Dagestan

The practice of disrupting concerts and the anime festival in Dagestan can be extended to the entire Russia, participants in the Moscow rally for the freedom of the Internet has expressed their fears.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a rally against the isolation of the Runet took place on March 10 in Moscow. Eight persons were detained before the start of the action.

The rally participants were holding the posters: "Hands off the Internet!", "No to censorship; give free Internet" and others. The vast majority of those who gathered in Sakharov Avenue were young people.

Sergey Shmakov, a mathematician, brought a poster to the rally: "Today they ban Telegram, tomorrow they'll ban anime". According to the activist, he is concerned about the disruption of the anime festival in Dagestan.

"With one telephone call, authorities cancel concerts, films and festivals. We are against it; we do not want the state to interfere in (this sphere). The law should be same for everyone. If there are anime fans in a certain city, they have the right to attend the corresponding concert or festival," Mr Shmakov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The man expressed his concern that the practice of disrupting anime festivals and other cultural events in Dagestan could be spread to the entire Russia's territory.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 10, 2019 at 07:30 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.