Survey suggests Russians do not view violations by security services as infringing on freedom
According to the results of a survey entitled “The perception of freedom by Russian citizens” conducted by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Russian citizens have nothing against violation of law by Special Services; also, they support state regulation of the economy and censorship. However, at the same time, they refused democracy. It was reported that 1,653 people from all over Russia took part in the telephone survey, mainly Russian citizens (73.9%).
In response to the question “should the State collect personal data of citizens?” almost two-thirds (65.9%) said yes. Only 25.8% of respondents were opposed to it. The majority of survey participants (53.6%) deemed the abuse of authority by Security Services allowable in emergency situations. 42% of the respondents were against such actions.
In the economic field the respondents took the side of state regulation (almost 60% have endorsed this idea). The great majority of respondents (95.9%) favored the control of prices of basic food products by the State. Also, Russians who participated in the survey demonstrated intolerance for people with different sexual orientations. 70.3% of respondents stated that homosexuality should be prohibited in Russia.
More than half of the respondents (57%) stated that they want their State to be democratic and only 7.9% admitted that they don’t need democracy.