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Male State Мужское государство | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | MG |
| Leader | Vladislav Pozdnyakov [eo] |
| Founded | October 2016 (2016-10) |
| Banned | 18 October 2021 (2021-10-18) |
| Headquarters | Moscow,Russia |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Colours | |
| Party flag | |
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Male State (MG;Russian:Мужское государство,romanized: Muzhskoye gosudarstvo) is an unofficial Russianmen's movement that advocatespatriarchy andRussian nationalism.[1][2][3][4] The group's activities focus ononline harassment: community members insult,bully andthreaten women, black people,[5] people in interracial relationships, andLGBT people.[6][7][8]
The group was created byVladislav Pozdnyakov [eo] in 2016 as a private community on the social networkVKontakte. In 2020, the Male State community was blocked by VKontakte for "incitement to violent action".[9] In 2021, a Russian court banned the group as extremist, stating that it incited hatred against women.[10][11]
The group advocatespatriarchy,Russian nationalism andradical information warfare against the current government (Male State claims that Russia's current leaders are too pro-women[12]). The group's activities are concentrated mainly on the Internet: members locate people (usually women) who expressfeminist orgay-friendly views on social media and target them with insults and threats of beatings or murder.[8][12] The group has also held periodic in-person meetings, during which members learned hand-to-hand combat andpneumatic weapons use.[13] Some members have identified theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) as their political partner.
Male State began as a private community on the Russiansocial media networkVKontakte. It was created in 2016 by the Russian bodybuilder Vladislav Pozdnyakov and maintained strict membership rules.[12]
In December 2018, Pozdnyakov was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence under Article 282 of theCriminal Code of the Russian Federation for "actions aimed at humiliating human dignity in relation to women".[14] A year later, the sentence was overturned.[15][16]
In 2019, four members of the Male State fromKhabarovsk, detained in 2017, were convicted ofextremist activities.[1][9]
In 2020, the Male State community was blocked by theVKontakte administration for "incitement to violent action".[9][17] By the time of blocking, the group consisted of over 150 thousand users. After the blocking of Male State and two more of his communities on VKontakte, Pozdnyakov began to actively maintain his channel onTelegram, a messaging service, and has garnered more than 80 thousand subscribers.
In July 2021, Pozdnikov was accused of leading a hate campaign against the Russian wife of a Nigerian student who had drowned while rescuing a swimmer inKaliningrad Oblast.[5]
In August 2021, Yobidoyobi co-founder Konstantin Zimen said he and his business received a barrage of threats and abuse after Vladislav Pozdnyakov shared a Yobidoyobi ad featuring a black man on his social media pages and called for action to be taken. The company took down the ad and apologized.[18]
On 18 October 2021, the Nizhny Novgorod regional court declared the organization extremist, thus banning its activities in Russia.[10][19]
On 4 August 2022, Male State and sympathizers targeted Dedaena Bar inTbilisi because pro-Putin Russians are banned, posting thousands of negative reviews and hacking their website.[20]