A draft law banning films discrediting Russia has been submitted to the State Duma

On March 12, the State Duma of the Russian Federation proposed to provide for the possibility of refusing to issue a rental certificate to foreign films containing materials that offend the dignity of a Russian person or form negative stereotypes about him. The document is posted in the parliament's electronic database.

"The current legislation on cinematography does not explicitly prohibit the distribution of foreign films and TV series that offend or humiliate the dignity of a Russian person, as well as containing deliberately distorted or derogatory images of the Russian Federation, its multinational people, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, state authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Soviet people, its government agencies and the armed forces, aimed at discrediting them or humiliating their national dignity," the explanatory note says.

The explanatory note notes that the proposed changes are aimed at protecting the honor and dignity of Russian citizens, its people, the state and its institutions from discrediting foreign media content. In addition, the authors of the initiative believe that such measures will help ensure a more equitable treatment of domestic and foreign films.

It clarifies that the introduction of such restrictions encourages foreign film studios to create films in which Russia and its citizens will be presented without distortion and in a more positive way. The loss of the Russian market, according to the developers of the initiative, can significantly affect the commercial benefits of producers of foreign content.

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The State Duma believes that the amount of penalties should be comparable to similar punishments for the media.

The Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Olga Lyubimova reported that the number of viewers attending Russian film screenings has increased 2.5 times in three years, reaching about 100 million people per year. The minister said that every year more and more films with state financial support are being released nationally. In 2023, 81 national films were released, in 2024 — 84, and in 2025 their number is planned to increase to 97. The growth over the period under review was 20%.

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