Ebat!! Russia Passes Law Banning Swearing

Russian entertainers, filmmakers, and writers are going to have to find more polite ways of expressing themselves, thanks to a new law reportedly signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bill, which Russian state news agency ITAR-Tass reports was signed into law Monday, outlaws cursing in public performances — which includes films, music, books, and plays.

If busted for swearing, individuals can face a fine up to $70, according to ITAR-Tass. And it’s worse for public officials, who will have to shell out $140 for every f-bomb or other cuss. Organizations or companies will pay $1,396 per swear, and face a suspension for repeated offenses.

The new law “bans the use of obscene language when ensuring the rights of Russian citizens to the use of the state language, and protecting and developing language culture,” according to a statement by the Russian government.

Films and books that contain curses will be sealed and marked with special packaging. Failure to mark items in such a way will lead to, yes, another fine.

This new law does not identify exactly which words will be on Russia’s shit list, but a similar bill was introduced in 2013 that sought to outlaw four specific swearwords: khuy (“cock”), pizda (“cunt”), ebat’ (“to fuck”), and blyad (“whore”). This new law will go into effect July 1, and will likely include those words in the ban.

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It isn’t immediately clear how this new law will impact Russian speakers, as their language contains an abundance of curse words, and using them is inextricably linked to basic communication. Cursing is such a part of Russian life that there is a specific term, met, that describes the impressive expanse of profanity in the Russian language.

“Swearing is just integrated into the Russian culture,” Danielle Neftin, a Russian speaker told VICE News. “Especially in soap operas and on television. I don’t really see how this ban would work.”

Ebat (to fuck) is one of the most commonly used curse words and can mean everything from literal sexual intercourse, to getting on someone’s nerves (ebat’ mozgi, literally, to screw someone’s brain). There are nearly a dozen terms that include the word in some way — meaning essentially infinite ways to tell someone to fuck off in Russian. Probably all of which will now be illegal.

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