A protester holds up a sign showing Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing lipstick during a protest against Russian anti-gay laws in 2013. A similar image has been declared “Internet extremism.” (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)Russia has banned a picture depicting President Vladimir Putin as a potentially gay clown. Russian news outlets are having trouble reporting exactly which image of the Internet's many Putin-gay-clown memes is now illegal to share. But gay Putin memes have proliferated as Russia has cracked down on both sexual liberties and online speech in recent years. A year later, the paper reported, Putin signed a law imposing prison sentences for people who give so much as thumbs-up to a forbidden online post.

Source: Washington Post April 05, 2017 19:51 UTC