Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a new legislation that called for a ban on swearing during public performances such as theater plays, cinema and other forms of art.

Under the new anti-F word law, which take effects on July 1, persons caught swearing during public performances would pay a penalty of RUB2500 while organizations and companies would be fined RUB50000.

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In April 2013, a similar law was also passed prohibiting swearing in media.

Last year, the Institute of Russian Language at the Russian Academy of Sciences has listed four words that represented swearing. The list included words illustrating the male and female organ, an immoral woman and the act of copulation which were not allowed to be spoken in any form of art.

The new list of banned words considered as swearing has yet to be released.

The new law has shocked many Russians and drew a lot of criticism. Swearing has played an important role in Russian literary art where even some of the country’s best writers are prolific with cursing. These include classical pieces from Alexander Pushkin to the works of Vladimir Sorokin, a contemporary post-modernist writer.

The Culture Ministry of Russia clarified that the swearing ban was directed to the mass culture and not toward art.

The Moscow Times on Monday quoted Culture Ministry representative Irina Kaznacheeva saying the new legislation aims to regulate the industry so that cursing would deliver a purpose.

She added that it would depend on how the artistic director of a public performance would decide on how to deliver the swearing, whether it breaks the new legislation or not.

On the other hand, playwrights and theater directors have been complaining about the new law as it would create conflict with another law, the intellectual property legislation.

TagsMoscow, Russia