desymbol: Russian ‘Stop A Douchebag’ Movement Punishes Traffic Rule Violators With Mega Chonky Stickers

There’s a Russian youth movement out there that fights against rude drivers and people who flout traffic rules. They call themselves ‘Stop a Douchebag’ (aka ‘StopHam’ aka ‘СтопХам’) and they have a large presence on YouTube, with over 2.5 million combined subscribers on their 2 YouTube channels.

One of the ways they fight back against reckless and egoistic drivers is by pasting humongous stickers on their cars with the words, “I spit on everyone, I drive where I want.” The movement is slightly controversial and is both praised and criticized for what they do. Scroll down, check out their videos, and let us know what you think of their tactics in the comment, dear Pandas.

A video where ‘Stop a Douchebag’ movement members stop a person driving on the sidewalk went viral again recently. This time, on Reddit

Image credits: Space_Probe_One

Another video surged in popularity on Reddit and internet users were surprised to see the group use huge stickers to shame bad drivers

Founded back in 2010, ‘Stop a Douchebag’ has been fighting against arrogance on the road and parking violations ever since then. Depending on who you ask, the members of the movement are either heroes or hooligans. In short, they’re known as digital vigilantes, and the way that the Russian public and government see them has changed a lot over time.

For example, back in 2011–2013, Vladimir Putin personally expressed support for the ‘Stop a Douchebag’ movement. However, in 2016, public media opinion shifted against the organization after the group confronted a prominent Russian athlete and Olympic champion.

That led to ‘Stop a Douchebag’ being liquidated. Though the decision was overturned just 6 months later, the liquidation was reinforced in 2018. However, the movement stated that they would continue with their raids in spite of this.

The leader of the movement, Dmitry Chugunov, said that the group targeted everyone who was going against traffic regulations. And they meant everyone: from high ranking public servants and parliament members to members of the police force and criminals. Chugunov stated that he was offered ‘millions of rubles’ in bribes not to upload certain videos onto YouTube, but refused.