Video services Premier, Start and operator MegaFon were accused of violating the 18+ marking when demonstrating LGBT content

Video services Premier, Start and operator MegaFon were accused of violating the age marking of 18+ when demonstrating LGBT content. If found guilty by the court, companies face a fine of up to 4 million rubles. or limitation of work for 90 days. Violators promise to promptly correct the marking. At the same time, the companies emphasize that all possible content with “propaganda” of LGBT relations has already been removed, and the criteria for “demonstration” have not been defined. If regulators do not clarify, the number of fines for video services will increase, experts expect.

To online cinemas Premier, Start and telecom operator “Megaphone” (co-owner of Start) drawn up protocols on the appointment of an administrative case, follows from the data on the portal of the courts of general jurisdiction in Moscow. All protocols were registered on May 25. Mediazona was the first to draw attention to this (recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent), it connects the situation with a violation of the law on “LGBT propaganda”.

However, it follows from the base of the court that video services and the operator are accused of violating Art. 6.21.2. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation – “dissemination among minors of information demonstrating non-traditional sexual relations and (or) preferences.” Violation threatens companies with a fine of 1 million to 4 million rubles. or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.

The court hearing in the case of Premier LLC is scheduled for June 21 in the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow. The case of MegaFon on June 29 should be considered by the Tverskoy District Court. The date of the process for Start.ru LLC has not yet been set, the materials have been sent to the Cheryomushkinsky District Court.

The law, which introduces liability for the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations in Russia, entered effective in December 2022. Fines for citizens range from 50 thousand to 400 thousand rubles, for officials – up to 800 thousand, for legal entities – up to 5 million rubles. (the maximum fine threatens for propaganda in the media and the Internet). Sites that publish such information will be blocked.

Also in December, the President of the Russian Federation signed a law on a complete ban on LGBT propaganda in the country. Individuals and officials face a fine of up to 800,000 rubles for violations, and up to 10 million rubles for legal entities.

In MegaFon, “Kommersant” explained that the regulator’s claims are not related to propaganda, but relate exclusively to incorrect age marking – 16+ instead of 18+: “We quickly eliminated the defect, now all age limits are indicated correctly.” The same situation was explained in Premier.

Start clarified that the protocol was drawn up in relation to the Italian film “Perfect Strangers” due to “possible LGBT demonstration, but not propaganda.” The service also says that the claims relate to an incorrectly specified age limit: “In view of the legal clarifications we have at our disposal, this content is not regarded as a demonstration. We will clarify the situation.”

This is not the first protocol issued for violations of Art. 6.21.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. In April, Roskomnadzor revealed them at the online movie theaters Movix and Peers.TV. In May, a similar protocol was drawn up for the Russky Reportage film company because of the series Made in Italy.

There have been no LGBT propaganda materials on platforms and on television for a long time, says Alexei Byrdin, CEO of the Internet Video Association: as a demonstration of LGBT relations under the marking of 16+, which violates the Code of Administrative Offenses.”

However, the expert notes, clear demonstration criteria are not defined, “and the practice, unfortunately, is formed rigidly.” “This may lead to the fact that we will put an 18+ die on the film “Hello, I am your aunt”, where Kalyagin dresses up as a woman,” says Mr. Byrdin.

The criteria for determining content that is a “demonstration” are extremely vague, Dmitry Kolesov, director of the new technologies department at J’son & Partners Consulting, agrees: “Claims can arise against any distributor.” This, according to the expert, will lead to the fact that the number of protocols will grow: “The only way to avoid them is to cut them. First, the entire films were cut out of the libraries. Now they cut episodes of films and TV shows. But the question is how much it will be possible to understand the plot after such processing.

Boris Edidin, Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs of the Internet Development Institute, is more optimistic and believes that “with time, cinemas will adapt to new requirements.” “The task of the near future is to develop methodological documents agreed with the regulator, which would make it possible to prevent violations and not bring the matter to administrative protocols,” adds Mr. Edidin. According to him, this work is already underway at “different expert platforms.”

Julia Yurasova