Russian Police Want to Save Your Life With This Selfie Safety Guide · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Image by Philippe Put on Flickr. CC BY 2.0.
As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the risks posed by taking selfies, the Russian Interior Ministry has launched a “Safe Selfie” microsite on the Ministry's official website.
The microsite explains the rationale behind the campaign, reiterating the concerns caused by the growing number of Russians hurting themselves or even dying while trying to capture a selfie. “Your health and your life are more valuable than a million likes on social networks,” the website claims.
“When a person is trying to photograph themselves, their attention is scattered, they lose balance, they don't look around and don't feel danger,” the microsite warns, encouraging selfie fans to be aware of their surroundings.
The microsite has caused a stir on the RuNet because of an infographic created for the campaign, outlining the riskiest scenarios for selfie-taking. Some users have compared the infographic to “Dumb Ways to Die” (an Australian public service announcement campaign to promote rail safety). Check out the annotated version of the infographic below.
Infographic from mvd.ru/safety_selfie. Translations by Tetyana Lokot.
The Interior Ministry is hoping to get RuNet's creative juices flowing and is crowdsourcing for other versions of the “safe selfies” infographics, encouraging users to send in their own interpretations for the campaign.