Russia introduced a bill proposing fines for ordinary citizens for "discrediting traditional values"

In its first reading, a committee of the Russian State Duma has recommended the adoption of a bill that imposes fines for the dissemination of materials that "discredit traditional Russian spiritual and moral values," as well as for the failure to remove such content. Novaya Gazeta Europe reported.

The bill establishes administrative fines for violating existing prohibitions against the dissemination of content that "discredits traditional spiritual and moral values or promotes their rejection." These fines would apply to individuals, officials, and legal entities. According to Sergey Boyarsky, a co-author of the bill and chair of the Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, the legislation targets owners of social media accounts and audiovisual services.

If the law is enacted, a first-time violation would result in fines of up to 5,000 rubles (approximately 54 euros) for individuals, 100,000 rubles (1,100 euros) for officials, and 700,000 rubles (7,500 euros) for legal entities. In the event of a repeat violation, maximum fines will reach 150,000, 400,000, and 3 million rubles, respectively. Services that remove the content within 24 hours will be exempt from liability.

Failure to comply with a request from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media and internet regulator, to remove content will result in more severe penalties.

Roskomnadzor and the Ministry of Culture will determine which materials undermine traditional values. According to Boyarsky, liability will apply only to those who "deliberately undermine" traditional values. The concept of "traditional values" was defined in a decree issued by Vladimir Putin on November 9, 2022. According to the decree, these include life, dignity, human rights and freedoms, patriotism, a strong family, humanism, justice, collectivism, and other values.

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