How can a protest video be considered illegal in a country that claims to be an open and free democracy?
There was a time when I would expect Google to stick to its principles and say no. Nowadays, I'm not so sure.
There was a time when I would expect Google to stick to its principles and say no. Nowadays, I'm not so sure.
In a small number of cases when the authorities really don't want you to organize a protest, they'll keep denying you one location after the other using bullshit excuses until the date when the protest is set to happen. Then they can crack it down for "unlawful assembly".
Note that I'm not from Russia, but I am from a country that looks up to Russia for some forsaken reason and we have experienced protests getting killed in this fashion.
Correction #1: from a town administration, not a police.
Correction #2: the actual legal state of a non-permitted demonstration is fuzzy because while the right for it is given by the Constitution, organizers and any violations of "peace and unarmed" way could be penalized due to federal laws which are stated applicable by the same Constitution.
Even if one ignores the obvious Russia-specific answer, there are plenty of reasons for a protest to be illegal in more western states. Normally it would be illegal to assemble on private land without permission, for example. And there are often laws requiring protests to eg seek permission for a planned route and stick to it (though these may not necessarily be enforced).
I can’t imagine advertising assemblies without permits is illegal in many democracies?