MOSCOW, January 9. /TASS/. The majority of Russians (63%), who took part in a survey by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), believe that the government should censor national media, according to the survey’s results published on the center's website.

"The prevailing sentiment among Russians today is that state censorship of the media is necessary (63%). Over the last fifteen years, the number of supporters of this point of view have increased," the study says. For reference - in 2008 the percentage of those who backed censoring the media was 58%.

Meanwhile, "about a third of our compatriots believe that state censorship is not necessary (30% )," VTsIOM adds.

According to the study, women support government censorship more than men (66% versus 59%).

Men were more likely not to support censorship in the media (34% versus 26%), with men under the age of 35 being especially anti-censorship.

As VTsIOM points out, 44% of Russians who support censorship see it as ensuring stability and order in society and protection from false information.

"Russians who oppose media censorship (30% of the group) more often explain their position by saying that information must be truthful and objective to form public opinion (39% of those who oppose censorship)," the report notes.

The all-Russian VTsIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted as a telephone interview on July 28, 2023. It covered 1.6 thousand Russians over the age of 18. The maximum margin of error, with a probability of 95%, does not exceed 2.5%.