Russian President Putin underlines importance of freedom of speech

Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of freedom of speech and information in an address to a media summit on Saturday, in comments seen as absurd by critics of his policy of eliminating dissent.

"At a time when the complicated process of multipolarity is developing, it is particularly important to protect the principles of information reliability," Putin said in a video message to the participants of the BRICS media summit in Moscow on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of TASS state news agency.

"Real freedom of speech, which reflects different opinions, enables the search for compromises and common approaches to solving the world's problems," Putin added.

Media play a significant role in building a just world order by giving people "an objective and unadulterated picture of the world," Putin said.

However, Russians have little in the way of freedom of speech and media in the nation's increasingly authoritarian climate.

TASS Russian news agency, set up in 1904, has had a range of names and designations and is the country's largest news agency. It is also seen as a government mouthpiece.

Media outlets that do not align with the Kremlin's statements and values have been banned and shut down and government opponents are persecuted by the judiciary.

The Kremlin doubled down on critics of its war on Ukraine, launched in 2022, and many Russian groups opposed to the war have been declared undesirable organizations, for example.

Once designated undesirable, the groups are in effect banned, in a move that affects media outlets and human rights organizations alike.