Russian newspaper Vedomosti mistakenly labels Decembrists as ‘undesirable’ organization
The Russian business daily Vedomosti erroneously labeled the Decembrists, participants in the 1825 uprising, as an ‘undesirable’ organization in an article about their trials, likely due to an algorithm that confused the historical rebels with a German NGO banned in Russia in 2022.
In an article about the trials of participants in the 1825 Decembrist uprising, the Russian business daily Vedomosti mistakenly labeled the Decembrists as an ‘undesirable’ organization — a legal status that prohibits a group from operating in Russia and criminalizes any involvement with it.
Journalist Alexey Polorotov from Ostorozhno Media was among the first to notice the label on the morning of July 28. Vedomosti published the article on July 25; at that time, the Decembrists were not labeled as undesirable, according to an archived copy from the same day. It remains unclear when or why the label appeared. A copy from July 27 already included it, but only in one of the article’s three mentions of the Decembrists. The label has since been removed.
The mix-up was most likely caused by an algorithm used by Vedomosti’s editors, which confused the participants of the 1825 uprising with a German nongovernmental organization called Dekabristen e.V. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office declared that organization ‘undesirable’ in 2022.
