Society

Censorship of SpongeBob symptomatic of deeper security crackdown in Putin’s Russia

SpongeBob has fallen prey to a self-censorship trend in Russian media.
SpongeBob has fallen prey to a self-censorship trend in Russian media. Photo by Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

High-profile acts of media self-censorship represent the tip of the iceberg in a Russian state security architecture increasingly used to curb individual freedoms and stifle dissent, human rights groups argue.