Kommersant learned about the request of publishers to clarify the law on LGBT propaganda

In early November, publishers approached the Russian Book Union (RKS) with proposals to change the law banning LGBT propaganda, as well as monitoring violations in new books; About it writes “Kommersant” with reference to the letter of the group “Eksmo-AST”.

Eksmo noted that the current version of the wording of the bill actually introduces a ban on any information for minors related to LGBT, “even if the context of the mention is a statement of historical facts.”

The publishing house pointed to the decision of the Constitutional Court of 2014, which states that information about non-traditional relationships can be disseminated among minors in a neutral (educational, artistic, historical) context. The publishers propose to supplement the draft law on the ban on LGBT propaganda with a similar wording.

The head of Alpina, Alexei Ilyin, also recalled that at present publishing houses do not have a system for censoring books, which means that, according to the current criteria and resources, “in fact, only one decision can be made – to stop publishing books that contain even the slightest mention of LGBT topics.

According to the newspaper’s source in one of the book services, publishers have already proposed organizing a system for monitoring new books through Roskomnadzor. According to the initiative, the author, publisher or other industry representative must receive a conclusion from Roskomnadzor about the presence of a violation in the manuscript or in a book that has already been published.

The interlocutor of Kommersant also noted that thousands of new works appear on samizdat platforms every month. In his opinion, due to the lack of clear criteria, it is problematic to identify violations in texts, and the work of a specialist who checks a book for compliance with the law “costs an average of 100,000 rubles. for the name.” The source added that it would be more logical to conduct monitoring by Roskomnadzor using automated algorithms. Such a proposal was sent to the department, the source said.

October 27 State Duma accepted in the first reading a bill on the ban on LGBT propaganda. The document provides for a ban on propaganda of non-traditional relations, pedophilia, as well as a ban on the dissemination of information about LGBT people. Violation of the LGBT propaganda ban will result in a fine of 50,000 to 400,000 rubles. for citizens, from 100,000 to 800,000 rubles. for officials, from 800,000 to 5 million rubles. or suspension of activities up to 90 days for legal entities.

Alexander Khinshtein, head of the State Duma committee on information policy, who oversees the finalization of the bill, told Kommersant that on November 21, a discussion of amendments to the draft for the second reading will take place. The RCC has been invited to the meeting, Khinshtein specified.

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