Quote from: byteball on August 19, 2018, 02:42:27 PM

Correction.
In today's Russia, top TV channels can call president idiot.
And a lot of populace follows, regardless of their reasons.
Freedom of speech is not primarily the possibility to call someone idiot.

It's a joke. And it's old. During the Soviet era calling Brezhnev an idiot would have landed you if not in jail then at least in a conversation with a KGB agent if a snitch happened to hear you say that. Of course it's much more subtle in today's Russia. Don't pretend you don't understand that.

Quote from: byteball on August 19, 2018, 02:42:27 PM

Russia is not the only country curtailing it.
Start with comparing German legal situation re. Holocaust denial or nazi propaganda: in your country (if you are from US)
it's exercising your Constitutional right, but in Germany it's a criminal offence.

Every regime has its ways to protect itself.
Try to question validity of the official version of 9/11, for example.
US society is perfectly divided in two halves in respect to Trump. You think it's a good thing.
Russian society is not so divided. Chinese, even less.

Regarding repression: you speak of examples delivered to you by your MSM.
You omit what your own "dissenting voices" (even the official ones, like Chomsky) speak about - like
proliferation of "suicides by shooting twice in the back of the skull" as just one example.
You banned Alex Jones, hooray for that. "First they came for Alex Jones..."

Nice dose of whataboutism. A staple of Soviet propaganda and stills works beautifully in Russia. So... "there is freedom of speech in Russia but it's ok if there isn't because other countries do it too" - is that your message here?

I could question the 9/11 all I want - not sure why I would do that but there is nothing preventing me. I certainly think it's a good thing that I can oppose or support Trump as I wish.

Not sure what you mean with the Chomsky thing. Googling your quoted text didn't turn up anything. Alex Jones is not in jail and not banned. Not being able to post on some website is not repression.