International Scientific and Practical Conference “Journalism in 2025: Creativity, Profession, Industry”
On February 7, 2026, International Scientific and Practical Conference “Journalism in 2025: Creativity, Profession, Industry” was held
As part of the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Journalism in 2025: Creativity, Profession, Industry,” organized by Lomonosov Moscow State University together with the Media Regulation Commission of the Moscow Branch of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, a round table titled “Contemporary Issues of Media Law” was held. Evgeny Diskin, Leading Research Fellow at the International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration, HSE University, delivered a report entitled “Restrictions on the Use of Social Networks by Children and Adolescents as a Contemporary Trend in EU Law and Other Western Legal Systems.”
In his presentation, E. Diskin outlined key trends in the regulation of digital platforms within the European Union. It was noted that the protection of minors has become a central justification for EU digital policy, reflected both in EU-wide instruments—primarily the Digital Services Act (DSA)—and in national legislative initiatives introducing direct or indirect restrictions on access to social networks.
Special attention was given to critical perspectives on this approach. In particular, the report addressed philosophical and legal arguments advanced by critics of EU policy, among whom Pavel Durov occupies a prominent place. These arguments emphasize the risks to privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity, as well as the use of child protection as a pretext for expanding censorship and establishing control over discourse in the EU digital space.
The report also examined the position of the U.S. House of Representatives, as reflected in several official reports. According to the U.S. perspective, EU policy creates conditions for indirect censorship by encouraging platforms to engage in preventive content removal due to the threat of sanctions, while also exerting extraterritorial effects that may conflict with the U.S. constitutional understanding of freedom of speech.
These issues were further developed in presentations by other participants. In particular, Mikhail Korotkevich, PhD in Law, Lecturer at the Department of Constitutional and Municipal Law, Faculty of Law, Moscow State University, in his report “The New Criminal Offense of Insulting Politicians as a Problem of Constitutional Media Law in Contemporary Germany,” analyzed recent developments in German criminal law, highlighting the correlation between the erosion of anonymity and the strengthening of criminal liability for political speech.
