A penalty for hypothesis. Russian economists are effectively banned from publicly forecasting increases in the retirement age.
The publication "Abzats" and its editor-in-chief Mikhail Shakhnazarov They were fined 315 rubles. Verstka drew attention to the rulings.
The reason for the Roskomnadzor protocols and the subsequent court decision was an article with a commentary by a candidate of economic sciences Alexandra RazuvaevaAnalyzing Russia's demographic crisis—the ratio of workers to retirees—the expert hypothesized that the retirement age for men and women could be raised by another five years in the future.
"In the Soviet Union, there were eight workers for every pensioner; now it's two. Given the demographic situation, things will only get worse. They'll raise the retirement age, citing increased life expectancy," Abzats quoted Razuvaev as saying.
Despite the fact that it was a private analytical forecast, the publication was deemed a violation of the law. Roskomnadzor declared the article "deliberately false" because it relied on the expert's words rather than official statements from authorized officials.
The court decided that the unofficial forecast “could influence public consciousness and lead to a mass disturbance of order.”
The article has now been removed from the publication's website.