Countering the Spread of Religious Extremism in Contemporary Society (the Case of the Federal List of Extremist Materials)

The article highlights the problems of countering religious extremism in Russia based on the results of the analysis of publications in the Federal List of Extremist Materials, which includes about 5 000 publications both in traditional print media and electronic materials posted on the Internet. The authors have analyzed editions covering religious issues from the viewpoint of lawfulness of recognizing them to be extremist ones. Main methods of studying religious materials to detect signs of extremism have been presented. The authors have identified the specificity of placing and distributing extremist religious information on the Internet, which is a source of spreading destructive ideas, ideologies, as well as a means of communication for extremist organizations. The paper briefly describes the activity of libraries working with the Federal List of Extremist Materials. Libraries receiving, storing and making literature available for public use should constantly analyze the information posted in the Federal List of Extremist Materials, and take appropriate measures to store and provide readers with documents of this kind in compliance with certain rules or to withdraw such materials from library collections. Thus, a library as a social institution counteracts the spread of extremist materials and, consequently, religious extremism in the society.