I've watched a lot of Putin and this is exactly how he is going to defend this law at his next q&a. He'll say most countries, even liberal democracies, have la

I've watched a lot of Putin and this is exactly how he is going to defend this law at his next q&a. He'll say most countries, even liberal democracies, have laws that regulate certain types of speech - such as insults in Germany, racism in France, insults in Australia, libel laws in the UK etc. - Russia is no different, we just have different sensibilities. When the gay propaganda law was bought in, he used pretty much the same argument - that it isn't a law against gays, but rather a law to protect the 'human dignity' of the majority of citizens. He wouldn't be completely wrong - which is why free speech needs to be all or nothing. The slippery slope when you start carving out exemptions is very real, and not only applies to those nations but is used in justifying the actions of others.