The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the first reading a package of bills banning LGBT and pedophilia propaganda, as well as the demonstration of LGBT information and information encouraging sex change among teenagers. According to the draft law submitted to the State Duma on October 20, the innovations will affect internet, mass media, books, audiovisual services, cinema, and advertising.
Thus, the list of prohibited information among children is expanding. Propaganda and demonstration of non-traditional sexual relations and preferences, as well as information that can cause children to want to change their gender, are to be prohibited. Also, a new composition is being introduced to separate the concepts of “demonstration” and “propaganda”.
The new bill introduces a mandatory paid subscription and additional technical means of protecting access in television and radio broadcasting to content prohibited for children, as well as age marking in promotional materials of this content. In addition, the requirements for advertising are being expanded, which should not contain information demonstrating non-traditional sexual relationships or preferences.
Besides, the draft law prohibits propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations or preferences, including propaganda of pedophilia, among both adults and minors.
The initiatives were supported by 390 deputies, including all faction leaders and vice-speakers.
Fines for violating the ban on LGBT propaganda:
- 50 thousand rubles – 400 thousand rubles – for citizens;
- 100 thousand – 800 thousand rubles – for officials;
- 800 thousand – 5 million rubles or suspension of activity for up to 90 days – for legal entities.
For violating the ban on pedophilia propaganda:
- 200 thousand – 800 thousand rubles – for citizens;
- 400 thousand – 2 million rubles – for officials;
- 1 million – 10 million rubles or suspension of activity for up to 90 days – for legal entities.
For violating the ban on the demonstration of LGBT people and information encouraging sex change among teenagers:
- 50 thousand – 200 thousand rubles – for citizens;
- 100 thousand – 400 thousand rubles – for officials;
- 800 thousand – 4 million rubles or suspension of activity for up to 90 days – for legal entities.
For foreign citizens and stateless persons, the draft law provides for administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation.
“We protect our children and those who want to live normal live”
As the speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said at the meeting, amendments to toughen penalties may be received by the second reading of the bill. According to the politician, tougher standards than administrative fines may be proposed for the second reading.
“As for the second reading, amendments may be received to tighten the proposed norms, we will consider them,” he said.
During the plenary session at which the draft law was adopted, Volodin explained that in this way “we must […] protect our children and those who want to live a normal life.”
“Everything else is sin, sodomy, darkness. And our country is fighting against this,” Volodin said.
Commenting on the bill, the State Duma Deputy, Alexander Khinshtein, said that Russia is conducting a special operation to ensure that there is no “parent number one”, “number two”, “number three” in the country instead of usual “mom” and “dad.”
“The special operation takes place not only on the battlefields, but also in the minds of people, in their minds and souls. In fact, we are fighting today for the fact that in Russia, instead of mom and dad, there is no ‘parent number one’, ‘number two’ […] This once again shows our civilizational confrontation with the West,” Khinstein noted.
Explanation of the bill’s high need
The explanatory note to the bill says that the project was developed in order to establish a mechanism to protect society from propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations and preferences, as well as to protect children from destructive information.
"Currently, on a global scale, there is a tendency to consolidate the LGBT community, simplify the procedure for sex change and obsessive propaganda (depathologization) of these phenomena. These phenomena are also [becoming] widespread in the Russian Federation.
Information containing a distorted idea of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relations is actively distributed on the Internet, in the media, through advertising, literary and cinematic works, etc. It is often aggressive, intrusive, offensive, which causes widespread outrage of society.
At the same time, the current legislation does not restrict such phenomena in any way, providing for a ban on propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations exclusively among minors. At the same time, such a ban does not cover other destructive information aimed at children, including demonstrating non-traditional sexual relations and (or) preferences, as well as capable of causing minors to change their gender ("transgender").
The promotion of non–traditional values, propaganda of the superiority of non-traditional sexual orientation as an individualizing factor, exaggeration of the positive aspects of sex change, justification (propaganda) of pedophilia - is particularly dangerous for children and adolescents whose psyche is extremely unstable and characterized by the presence of periods of contradictory states, motives, value orientations and actions."
Ru-Main, 27.10.2022
Source: Interfax, Lenta
