Russia's Duma Backs Bill to Ban Films That Contradict 'Traditional Values'

Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday gave its initial approval to a bill that would ban the distribution of films deemed to contradict "traditional values," a move critics say will further tighten state control over the country's cultural output.
The State Duma voted 398-13 to pass the bill in its first reading. The legislation would empower the Ministry of Culture to deny distribution certificates to any film that contains content seen as "denying or discrediting traditional Russian spiritual values." The ministry would also gain the authority to retroactively amend existing certificates to add age restrictions or other limitations.
Presenting the bill, lawmaker Anton Gorelkin argued that the state must pay closer attention to the "meanings embedded in films" before they reach the public, especially young people. He suggested that the criteria for evaluating films could be modeled on the country's widely condemned 2022 law banning "LGBT propaganda."
The concept of "traditional values" was formally codified in a 2022 decree by President Vladimir Putin, which lists patriotism, service to the Fatherland, high moral ideals, a strong family, and the priority of the spiritual over the material among Russia's core tenets.
The bill is the latest in a series of measures to enforce social conservatism and patriotism in public life. The rhetoric surrounding the protection of these values has intensified, with some officials proposing even more extreme measures.
Earlier this month, Nikolay Lishin, the deputy head of Russia's Federal Medical-Biological Agency, suggested introducing criminal liability for the "theft" of traditional values. He argued that if a film caused a person to change their mind about a core value, such as the desire to have many children, the creators of that film should be "isolated from society."