Roskomnadzor sent letters to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to conduct an examination of at least six videos on PornHub… This was reported to Izvestia in the federal service. Roskomnadzor suggested that the clips may violate Art. 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion”, Art. 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Insult to a representative of the authorities” and Art. 6.13 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation “Propaganda of narcotic drugs”. If the expertise confirms this, the videos should be removed, otherwise the authorities will block the pages with them. Experts say that there may be several hundred such videos with violations on the resource.
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Roskomnadzor sent a letter to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia with a request to conduct an examination of at least two videos on PornHub, in which various attributes of the Orthodox Church appear… This was reported to Izvestia in the department. We are talking about clips that potentially fall under Art. 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion”, specified in Roskomnadzor. They noted that the department also appealed to the Investigative Committee of Russia with a request to consider the issue of bringing the authors of the videos to justice.
At least three more videos on the same resource attracted the attention of the ILV, the main characters of which demonstrate narcotic substances and methods of their use in the frame.… Links to the department sent materials to General Directorate of Drug Control (GUNK) Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for examination. The videos are potentially subject to Art. 6.13 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation “Propaganda of narcotic drugs”.
Roskomnadzor also appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia with a request to check one video, the content of which may offend representatives of the authorities of the Russian Federation. The material may violate Art. 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Insulting a representative of the authorities.”
Photo: Izvestia / Tatiana Polevaya
Based on the results of all the above examinations and judicial actions Roskomnadzor intends to include links to controversial content in the unified register of prohibited information and demand that these videos be removed from the resource, specified in the department. If the site administration does not act within 24 hours after receiving the notification, the RKN will restrict access to links to illegal content through providers.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia with a request to comment on Roskomnadzor’s appeals.
The service should receive an assessment of the videos from the above-mentioned government agencies no later than 30 days later, said Pavel Katkov, owner of the Katkov and Partners law firm. Such a regulation is established in the general rules of administrative and law enforcement agencies, he explained.
– In the cases provided for by special laws, in particular the law “On Information …”, these terms can be very tight and can be calculated literally in a few working days, – added the lawyer.
To be or not to be
There are hundreds of videos on PornHub similar to the ones that Roskomnadzor drew attention to., says Oleg Bakhtadze-Karnaukhov, an independent darknet researcher. The expert connects the prevalence of such content with the fact that video hosting has entire channels whose authors specialize in the production of potentially illegal video.
– This is how content makers advertise their accounts on other platforms like OnlyFans. Public videos with controversial content only on some profiles from two dozen. And it is impossible to estimate how many potentially illegal clips are opened by users on a paid subscription, – said Oleg Bakhtadze-Karnaukhov.
Photo: Getty Images / Schöning / ullstein bild
The expert believes that the PornHub administration does not pay due attention to video moderation in the Russian region, although it has the necessary resources for this.… After selective blocking of videos by Roskomnadzor, hosting will continue to replenish with similar content, he is sure. Oleg Bakhtadze-Karnaukhov sees a complete blocking of the resource in Russia as the only effective solution.
When asked by Izvestia about the complete blocking of the resource in case of repeated violations, Roskomnadzor did not answer.
Izvestia sent a request to PornHub.
Destructive resonance
It is rather difficult to predict whether the resource can be completely blocked in Russia, said Pavel Katkov. The authorities can act more decisively if the story acquires a public outcry, he said. Such a development of events is likely if, for example, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) pays attention to potentially illegal content, the expert said.
The Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Mass Media did not answer Izvestia’s questions.
Photo: Global Look Press / imageBROKER / Jochen Tack
– It’s not about insulting the Church and Orthodox people. The fact is that in our country, in principle, they are very mild in their approach to regulating the distribution of pornography. Only child pornography is prohibited in our country, and adult pornography in all forms is not limited in any way. I believe that it is necessary to introduce strict censorship on all pornography on the Internet, – said the rector of the St. George Church in the village of Nakhabino, Krasnogorsk District, Moscow Region, former host of the Spas TV channel and Orthodox Internet blogger Pavel Ostrovsky.
He sees a way out in the adoption of a regulation that would require browser developers to block all obscene content on the Internet. Roskomnadzor would have to spend several times less time and resources on combating pornography, the expert concluded.