The “war on terror” in the wake of 9/11 has led to new restrictions on the freedom of the press worldwide. In the post-Soviet countries, political elites have twisted the war on terror into a fight against “extremism,” a vague term that quickly expanded to encompass almost all forms of political dissent. Moreover, the numerous local wars in the post-Soviet world have come to be seen as a new front in the global fight against international terrorism – this was certainly true of the official approach to the events in Chechnya (Russia), the Trans-Dniester region (Moldova), South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ajara (Georgia), Andijan (Uzbekistan), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and elsewhere. Because terrorism has roots in political extremism, to overcome terrorism and terrorist organizations, the state must suppress first and foremost extremism and extremist speech; such was the motivation of the governments. On this view, all combatants became “international terrorists,” and journalists covering their illegal activity, however objectively, could be labeled extremists and accomplices to terrorists.

This chapter details the ways in which unjustified restrictions against “extremist” speech have been adopted in the name of the war on terror. These include, but are hardly limited to, expansive readings of prohibitions on hate speech.