The St. Petersburg lawmaker has proposed a law to limit propaganda about the end of days in local newspapers and television. 

      A member of the Fair Russia party, Andrey Gorshechnikov, wrote an official letter to St. Petersburg governor Aleksandr Poltavhcenko. In this letter he says Russian media, always thirsty for ratings, fill their audience with the idea that 2012 is the year of the apocalypse. Gorshechnikov believes such reports can cause an increase in crime, suicides, and drug abuse and alcoholism. So, according to the lawmaker, such topics must be considered dangerous and their propaganda must be restricted. At the same time, Gorshechnikov stressed that he was not calling for a ban on media coverage of the topic.

      Popular culture has long been fascinated with the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, popularly known as the Mayan calendar, and its alleged “ending” on December 21, 2012. Many experts, however, are rather skeptical about that idea, pointing to evidence that it was simply the final point of one of many so-called time cycles.

      Anyway, the tendency of hysteria in mass press is especially obvious today, when December 21 is coming closer and closer. The other important question is if the officials are capable to censor any topics in media, which are within the bounds of the law.