Read No Evil

With each passing month, the Soviet Union seems to loosen a bit more the closed attitude that for years epitomized its contacts with the West. Internally, however, the walls of official censorship between the Russian government and its citizens are as high as ever--with little likelihood of their coming down in the near future. According to a secret Soviet directive to all media editors and censors obtained by TIME, there remains in Russia a multitude of subjects that cannot be printed or transmitted by radio or TV without prior approval of the requisite authorities.

The directive, dated 1970 but still in effect, censors discussion of many things that are commonly and openly discussed and debated in the West. These include all statistics on crime in the Soviet Union (including the number arrested and convicted in any given year), "the number of uncared-for children, the number of people engaged in vagrancy or begging."

In the judicial area, almost nothing passes to the public without prior censorship. Publication of information about closed-court proceedings is forbidden. Though most Russians have heard about labor camps, the directive takes special pains to ensure that they do not read about them. Censorable subjects include "information about the existence of correctional labor camps," "facts about the physical condition, illness and death rates of prisoners" and "information about extraordinary events in the camps such as suicides and illnesses."

Other Areas. Military personnel problems are also censored. No information is to be disseminated, without permission, about "dissatisfaction among the military personnel, [which is] provoked by material conditions and feeding of the men." Other areas of censorship: medicine (no mention of "illness in the population from cholera and plague"), wages (no discussion of how much foreigners working in the U.S.S.R. earn), and accidents. The directive orders censorship of any mention of accidents involving aircraft, ships or autos.

Also banned is "information about the consequences of earthquakes, tidal waves, floods and other natural calamities" and "information about the number of fires and their victims."

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