Networking with intent. Moscow court fines media outlet for 2018 article with link to “undesirable” organisation

In a decision issued in November, the Kuzminsky district court found the business outlet’s publisher guilty under article 20.33 of the Administrative code after prosecutors identified a 2018 explainer that included a clickable link to the official website of the YPO (formerly Young Presidents’ Organization).

The ruling says the inspection took place on October 8, 2025, when a Prosector General’s office employee located the article, “observed” the link and took screenshots.

A representative of the company admitted guilt and said the material had been removed. The page is no longer available on Inc.Russia’s website, though an archived copy remains accessible.

The link appeared in an article featuring Oleg Volkosh, a Mediaplus Group Russia executive described as heading YPO’s Russian branch. The piece argued for the value of business clubs and new connections, even calling the whole thing a “useful ‘sect’.”

YPO was designated “undesirable” in Russia in October 2024, six years after the article’s publishing date. This status makes any association with, or promotion of, an organisation legally prohibited.

In the official statement, YPO was described as a “closed business community” involving young businessmen in social projects in order to “train and educate future opinion leaders in the interests of the United States”. The prosecutors claimed one of its core functions is “moving young promising specialists to the West”, and that it “stimulates protest activity” while “educating Russian youth within the concept of western countries’ dominance”.

From there, the case was simple: once prosecutors find a page with a link to YPO, they conclude that the page is accessible to an unlimited number of people, therefore, the publisher “participated” in the organisation’s activity. Inc.Russia was fined; the sum was redacted from the posted ruling. 

Since 2015, when Russia introduced its “undesirable organisations” law, the label has steadily widened from US-linked democracy groups to a rolling catalogue of NGOs, media outlets, cultural initiatives and even universities. Now, Russia’s blacklist covers three hundred organisations, including major rights groups and news outlets, Russian and international, including Amnesty International, British Council, and even Yale University. 

The enforcement is very arbitrary. In Yaroslavl, a local university official was fined after prosecutors said Yale materials were being stored and distributed in an online library. In a separate case, an IT manager from another university was fined after a British Council link turned up inside an academic collection posted on a university website.