“Vedomosti”: Roskomnadzor decided to ban video services from showing films with sex deviations with “non-traditional sexual relationships and sexual deviations.” Vedomosti writes about this on Tuesday, November 9.
The publication refers to the list of proposals for changes in the current legislation, which was discussed at a meeting of the Public Council under the department. According to the newspaper, a slide with the emblem of Roskomnadzor was presented on it, which presented a number of restrictions for video services related to the demonstration of such content.
What are sex deviations?
As the sexologist and psychiatrist Irina Ayriyants explained to the publication, sexual deviations (perversions) include pedophilia, exhibitionism, sadism and masochism. The list of mental illnesses changes regularly. For example, previously it included homosexuality and transsexuality, and in the latest edition, homosexual attraction was excluded. A new update of the disease classifications is expected in about two years.
Ayriyants recalled that gay sex scenes have already been cut out of some films in the Russian box office. As an example, she cited the picture about Elton John “Rocketman”. Now, such films as “50 shades of gray”, the series “Billions” and “Happy End” may fall under the new requirements. Currently, the legislation allows the display of such content (except for pedophilia) only with the mark “18+”.
Ideas of Roskomnadzor
One of the initiatives of the department involves the introduction for online cinemas “a ban on the distribution of materials that promote non-traditional sexual relations and sexual deviations.” They are proposed to be included in the list of grounds for inclusion in the register of prohibited information, the pages from which Internet providers and telecom operators are required to block at the request of Roskomnadzor.
In addition, the ban on the demonstration of such content is proposed to be enshrined in the law “On the protection of children from information that is harmful to their health and development.” Another initiative concerns amendments to the article of the law on the media on the inadmissibility of abuse of freedom of the media. It is proposed to introduce the same prohibitions as in the article on the obligations of online cinemas.
The punishment for such violations is proposed to be established by analogy with the current article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) on the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors, implying fines for companies in the amount of up to one million rubles or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.
What else is known?
One of the participants in the meeting, in an interview with the publication, emphasized that Roskomnadzor's initiatives to ban content with sex deviations are “so far only proposals.” Another interlocutor of the newspaper said that during the meeting, the head of the department, Andrei Lipov, recalled the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Valdai Forum. Then, during his speech, the head of state called the situation “monstrous” when children were “forced to believe that a boy can easily become a girl and vice versa.”
At the same time, the Kremlin informed the publication that they do not know about the development of any legislative norms after this speech by Putin.
I do not know anything about this
Dmitry Peskov Press Secretary of the Russian President
The press service of Roskomnadzor did not respond to the newspaper's request. At the same time, on Wednesday, November 10, the Public Chamber is scheduled to hold a meeting on the legislative regulation of the activities of online cinemas, the publication refers to the announcement. The chamber notes the concern of citizens about the spread of destructive content on online platforms. The head of Roskomnadzor, Andrey Lipov, should also make his proposals at the meeting.
Expert opinions
Megogo Russia said they were unaware of the emergence of any draft laws to change the current legislation in this area. The general director of the online cinema, Viktor Chekanov, called the initiative controversial and excessive. He recalled that in Russia there is already an article of the Administrative Code on the prohibition of the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among children. At the same time, Chekanov drew attention to the fact that if the initiative is adopted, “the audience will be deprived of the great works of world directors – from Luchino Visconti to Gus Van Sant.”
The head of the Internet Video Association Aleksey Byrdin recalled the already existing duty of cinemas to hide content that could potentially harm the development of children under the 18+ label. For violation of the rules, various measures of influence are provided. In addition, pirate services are widely functioning in Russia, “which, in principle, operate outside the legal field,” he added.
Alexandra Orekhovich, a member of the commission on legal support of the digital economy of the Moscow branch of the Russian Lawyers' Association, also pointed to the vagueness of the wording … In her opinion, the new norms can also be aimed “in principle at the dissemination of relevant information, regardless of the age of the distribution group.”
Ekaterina Tyagay, a lawyer and partner of the Pen & Paper Bar Association, also pointed to the “absolutely rubbery rule for interpretation”. According to the lawyer, it will allow “to abuse it in its application and to inscribe almost any kind of relationship into it.”
Fighting obscenities
At the end of October, it became known about another initiative of the same Roskomnadzor regarding online cinemas. According to the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications Alexander Khinshtein, the department advocated the prohibition of the use of profanity on video platforms.
According to the parliamentarian, at present, many TV series released in online cinemas initially contain a large amount of profanity. At the same time, the absence of restrictions leads to the fact that platform owners are filming deliberately provocative content, he added.
At the same time, the deputy emphasized that we are talking only about the Russian audience: TV shows and films that are broadcast in other countries , the concept of limitation does not provide. He added that the form and regulation of restrictions are to be discussed, but this is not only about age marking.
Since February 1, Russia has a law that obliges social networks to find and block posts with illegal content. According to the document, social networks, which are visited by more than 500 thousand users from Russia per day, will be required to personally monitor the content. The law specifically prohibits materials containing obscene language.