Pussy Riot Join Twitter in English, Tweet Jokes and Commentary
Pussy Riot‘s two freed members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, have been tweeting in Russian frequently from their own accounts since their December release. Now they’ve joined Twitter with a new account to tweet in English. “Russia is not China or Iran YET, so since we can still use Twitter, we will give a shot at running it in English, so hi to everyone here!” they wrote in their first tweet.
Putin Clamps Down: A Chilling Report From Moscow
So far, the women have condemned Wall Street, Putin and “Capital Hell” in 140 characters or less. But they’ve also shared a few funny tweets. One included a picture of them with the director of Her and said, “We decided with Spike Jonze that Pussy Riot are true Jackass-style girls.” Another quirky one features a picture of them dressed up and said, “We have only one set of clothes and we wear it everywhere – even if we’re at Vanity Fair party.”
But while Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are exercising their right to free speech, Putin is limiting that of their countrymen and women. The Russian president recently signed a bill that bans swearing at arts, cultural and entertainment events, according to CNN. Moreover, the Kremlin said that books, CDs and movies with banned maledictions must be sealed with a warning that reads, “Contains obscene language.”
The going rate for Russia’s swear jar is now $70 for people caught using foul language. Officials get a reduced fine of $40 and businesses that violate the new law face fines of nearly $1,400. The law goes into effect on July 1st.