Russian State Duma committee backs bill introducing fines for ‘discrediting traditional values’
Russian’s State Duma has drafted a bill that would impose fines for “discrediting traditional values.” The committee on criminal and administrative legislation recommended November 9 that the bill pass its first reading.
The list of “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values” appears in a decree the Russian president signed in November 2022.
The document states that “traditional values include life, dignity, human rights and freedoms, patriotism, civic duty, service to the Fatherland and responsibility for its fate, high moral ideals, a strong family, creative labor, the priority of the spiritual over the material, humanism, mercy, justice, collectivism, mutual assistance and mutual respect, historical memory and the continuity of generations, and the unity of the peoples of Russia.”
The bill would establish administrative penalties for violating existing bans on distributing materials that “discredit traditional spiritual and moral values or promote their rejection.”
Fine amounts
For distributing these materials, individuals would be fined 5,000 to 10,000 rubles (up to 150,000 rubles for repeat violations). Officials would be fined 50,000 to 100,000 rubles (up to 400,000 rubles for repeat violations). Legal entities would be fined 500,000 to 700,000 rubles (up to 3 million rubles for repeat violations).
For failing to remove materials as ordered by the federal media regulator Roskomnadzor, individuals would be fined 10,000 to 20,000 rubles (200,000 to 300,000 rubles for repeat violations). Officials would be fined 100,000 to 200,000 rubles (600,000 to 800,000 rubles for repeat violations). Legal entities would be fined 700,000 rubles to 1 million rubles (3 million to 5 million rubles for repeat violations).
According to the bill, liability would not apply if a service owner removes a work declared to “discredit traditional values” within 24 hours of having its distribution certificate revoked.
The Culture Ministry would open administrative cases over the distribution of these materials, while Roskomnadzor would handle cases involving failure to comply with removal orders.
State Duma lawmaker Sergei Boyarsky, a co-author of the bill, said “individuals” in the bill meant “social network owners, not users.”
As of publication, no date had been set for the bill’s first reading.
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