Self-Censorship and Denunciations Explain Why Some would Like to Return to Soviet-Style Censorship, Shulika Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 7 – Unlike in Soviet times when writers and other cultural figures knew more or less what the rules were because of censorship, their successors now operate in a situation where the authorities responding to activists act repressively but often unpredictably, leading to even harsher self-censorship and uncertainty, Kirill Shulika says.

            Not surprisingly, some, like Mikhail Shvydkoy would like to go back to a system where the rules were clearer, where those imposing the rules were limited to a specific group of officials, and where anyone prepared to work within those rules could function more or less comfortably, the Russian commentator says (rosbalt.ru/news/2025-07-07/kirill-shulika-vozvraschenie-sovetskoy-kultury-5430513).

            But as understandable as that desire to go back to the past, he continues, there is no chance that the Putin regime can do so. On the one hand, there has been an explosion in the number of cultural products that would have to be censored; and on the other, there is no overarching ideology guiding what is acceptable and what is not.

            Unless the Kremlin is prepared to address those two problems by reducing cultural production and establishing an official ideology, there is little chance for a return to what view as a more predictable and thus more comfortable past. Instead, those who want to write or otherwise take part in cultural life are going to face an unpredictable and uncomfortable future.