ABSTRACT
The dying of the censorship apparatus that occurred during the early 1990s was an important prerequisite for the growth of liberal democracy in Russia. Censorship merely took on a new dimension as it is redefined to meet the needs of the "democratic" government of Boris Yeltsin. Glasnost' was a time when caution was the best approach for the Glavlit censor. As one newspaper censor related, they were under pressure to let up, but they had to be careful not to offend their "masters" in the Party. While censorship would outlive the Soviet Union, the Soviet institution most associated with censorship ceased to have a legitimate purpose the day the Law on the Press was passed. While the swift lifting of censorship may have provided a degree of hope both in Russia and abroad, it was tainted by the abuses the government committed during the restoration of order.
