Russia Seeks to Ban Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter Over ‘Childfree Ideology'
Russia is going after TV series Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, and the Harry Potter franchise in an effort to purge what it claims is the promotion of "childfree ideology."
The development comes months after Russia passed a bill banning what state-run news wires describe as the "public propaganda of the ideas of voluntarily choosing not to have children."
It comes as Russia grapples with a dwindling birth rate and as President Vladimir Putin scrambles to encourage women to have children.
For decades Russia has been experiencing a plunging birth rate and population decline, and this appears to have worsened amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with high casualty rates and men fleeing the country to avoid being conscripted to fight.
It is estimated that Russia's population will fall to about 132 million in the next two decades. The United Nations has predicted that in a worst-case scenario, by the start of the next century, Russia's population could almost halve to 83 million, Newsweek previously reported.
On September 1, an order by Russia's telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor will come into effect which will ban "childfree ideology", local media reported.
The "Parliamentary Newspaper", the official weekly publication of Russia's Federal Assembly, reported that films with so-called childfree propaganda "will not receive distribution certificates."
"Administrators of digital platforms, including social networks and online cinemas, must promptly remove illegal content," it said. "The dissemination of the ideology of conscious refusal to have children in the media, the Internet, films and advertising is prohibited in Russia."
According to the publication, content that will be banned will include information that encourages or justifies the refusal to have children, which creates a positive attitude towards it; informs [viewers] about the advantages of refusing to have children over having children or form distorted ideas about their social equivalence; demonstrates a negative image of pregnancy, motherhood, fatherhood, or create a positive attitude towards childlessness, which can motivate people to refuse to have children.
Possible contenders could include Sex and the City, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Harry Potter.
"Even in the harmless Harry Potter saga, as it seems to us, one can find a hint of childfree [ideology]: Professor McGonagall did not have children. However, it is unknown whether this was a conscious choice or something did not work out," the publication said.
A leading Russian demographer said last month that Russia's birth rate has fallen to a historic low, reaching levels not seen since the late 18th to early 19th century.
Russian authorities have restricted access to abortions and contraception and have even offered pregnant women payouts in a bid to encourage the population to have children. In 2023, Valery Seleznyov, a member of the Russian State Duma, proposed releasing women convicted of minor charges from prisons so they can conceive.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, a member of the Russia's ruling United Russia party, said when the bill passed in September 2024: "Without children, there will be no country."
The press service of the United Russia party said in September 2024: "The bill banning propaganda of childfree [ideology] was submitted to the State Duma."
Elvira Aitkulova, one of the authors of the bill and member of the State Duma Committee on education, previously said that the bill is "about the propaganda of childfree ideology, but not about the lifestyle and choices of each individual."
Individuals who violate the ban face fines of up to 400,000 rubles (about $5,000), while officials could be fined up to 800,000 rubles (about $10,000). Companies could be slapped with fines of up to 5 million rubles (about $62,300).
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