Make a video: online cinemas may be closed for discrediting traditional values
In Russia, online cinemas may be closed for films with content contrary to traditional values. The State Duma is preparing amendments to the draft law on the non-issuance of rental certificates to relevant films, the Information Policy committee, which prepared the initiative, told Izvestia. New People opposed it, saying that the law could lead to an increase in piracy and a ban on even Soviet comedies, and the Communist Party criticized the draft for the lack of transparency of the criteria on the basis of which the paintings would be screened out. How new restrictions can affect the film industry is in the Izvestia article.
How will rental certificates be issued?
In Russia, online cinemas may be closed for films that discredit traditional values. This may happen if a bill is passed on the non-issuance of rental certificates to paintings with destructive content, Andrei Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, told Izvestia.
The State Duma adopted it in the first reading, and now the deputies are working on amendments that need to be made by July 8. According to the deputy, the bill will definitely not be adopted in its current form, therefore, significant improvements should be expected by the second reading. The main topic of discussion was the timing of the transition period, during which cinemas will have to browse their film library to find films with "strange scenes" and send them to the Ministry of Culture to obtain rental certificates. Izvestia has contacted the Ministry for comment.
— Today, 99% of libraries do not have rental certificates, so a transitional period will be introduced. We are currently discussing in what form it will be in order not to paralyze the entire film industry and make the process comfortable enough," Svintsov explained. — Let's assume that the transition period will last three years. During this time, if the distributor of the platform knows that a particular series, movie, or cartoon has some strange themes, LGBT (the movement is banned in the Russian Federation and recognized as extremist), or any propaganda, they send this content to the Ministry of Culture to obtain a rental certificate. The Ministry of Culture says: such a scene is impassable. They rewire and reload. During the transition period, there will be no penalty for not having a rental certificate.
It is not specified whether the paintings will remain available at this time. However, if films that discredit traditional values are discovered after the transition period, then, according to the deputies' proposal, film distributors will be fined or closed.
"In case of severe abuses, their activities will be suspended," the deputy stressed.
As for new films, they must receive rental certificates without fail, Svintsov said. Thus, even when creating paintings, the Ministry of Culture will be able to require the directors to cut out certain scenes.
Previously, similar measures were applied to online cinemas only under the law banning LGBT propaganda. In January 2024, Roskomnadzor reported that since December 2022, it had issued about a hundred fines for scenes with similar content in the amount of more than 50 million rubles. In June 2023, it became known that two online cinemas could be closed for gross violations of the law, but the case ended with fines. Obviously, by adopting the bill, the authorities will punish not only for scenes with LGBT people, but also for discrediting traditional values in general.
To clarify this issue, Izvestia sent a request to Roskomnadzor.
It is expected that a commission under the Ministry of Culture, which will include film artists, will determine the criteria for the film's compliance with values. "These will be fine professionals who know how to work with the industry, who understand filmmakers," Marina Kim, first deputy chairman of the Information Policy committee, told Izvestia.
Now it is impossible to say for sure which films will not receive distribution certificates. The text of the bill does not provide examples that would make it possible to understand which films may be affected by the new restrictions. Nevertheless, the deputies tried to explain what exactly is meant by discrediting traditional values.
— No one talks about not showing violence, banditry or prostitution. We are against making this the central line of the narrative. Unfortunately, this happens, and that's what people fall for. This is wrong," Marina Kim said.
The deputies want those filmmakers who meet the interests of the state and promote the values of a strong family to find support.
What is the bill criticized for in the State Duma?
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and New People said that the factions had questions about who and by what parameters would determine whether or not to issue a film certificate.
— This is actually a kind of censorship, and therefore we would like it to be a transparent mechanism. Who determines, on the basis of which criteria, how the decision is made," Alexei Kurinny, a member of the Communist Party faction, told Izvestia.
He noted that the Communists generally support the concept of the bill. Restrictions are needed, but in order to avoid excesses, the fate of films should be decided by the creative council, not a group of officials and "moralizing censors," the deputy stressed.
Unlike the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the New People voted against the bill in the first reading, and deputy Anton Tkachev, who spoke from the faction, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that everyone's favorite Soviet comedies were at risk of falling under the restrictions.
— The evaluation criteria are not entirely clear, because we have paintings that passed under Soviet censorship, but may not pass according to conventionally traditional values. Let's say Operation S, when men disguise themselves as women, or our cult classic on New Year's Eve, where the groom leaves the bride for St. Petersburg and, being drunk, begins to have an affair with a strange woman," he recalled.
The deputy expressed the hope that representatives of the Ministry of Culture would come to the State Duma to clarify the details. If they guarantee transparency of assessments, then the faction will be ready to support the idea in the second reading. On the other hand, the adoption of the bill may lead to an increase in piracy, Tkachev believes.
Sergei Boyarsky, Chairman of the Information Policy Committee (United Russia), retorted that the same claims were made against the law on LGBT people. "They said that it is necessary to prescribe criteria. No, don't do that. The authorized body has prescribed a clear framework, and they are in effect," he said. Earlier, the press service of Kinopoisk complained that they still do not have precise criteria for determining the demonstration of non-traditional relationships.
The SRZP and LDPR told Izvestia that they would support the bill in the second reading and had no complaints about it. "Life requires making decisions to protect against hostile content, and the bill solves this problem," said Sergei Mironov, the head of the SRZP.
"We must ensure that films that go beyond our Russian understanding do not appear in Russia," agrees Andrei Lugovoy, deputy head of the LDPR faction.
The film industry noted that they still do not fully know what could violate the requirement to protect traditional values. When clear and equal criteria are not prescribed for all, there is a danger of selective justice, film critic and editor-in-chief of the magazine "Session" Vasily Stepanov told Izvestia.
— If someone can prove in court that some laws of the Russian Federation have been violated by the film, the film is prohibited for showing. It seems that this would be quite enough, without any identification. But today, few people believe that rental certificates will be abolished, although for many years we have been quietly doing without them," says Izvestia columnist and film critic Sergei Sychev.
In the first reading, the bill was supported by all factions, except for the "New People", so we can expect that after the amendments it will be approved.
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