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Volodin linked the collapse of the USSR and the film "Intergirl" while discussing the ban on childfree propaganda
State Duma deputies approved in the first reading a bill banning public propaganda of childlessness ideology. 388 legislators voted for this amendment to the bill.
The document proposes to ban the promotion of refusal to give birth via the Internet, media, films and advertising.
"I emphasize that we are specifically talking about banning propaganda against births. A woman decides for herself whether to have children or not. Again, it is up to her to decide who she wants to talk to about this. However, there should be no propaganda that puts pressure on women when they decide to have children. This is what is happening now in the US and Europe," explained Speaker of the House of Representatives Vyacheslav Volodin.
According to him, the bill was developed as part of the formation of a “unified legal sphere for the protection of children, families and traditional values.”
At today's meeting, Volodin recalled the film "Intergirl", directed by Pyotr Todorovsky based on the novel of the same name by Vladimir Kunin. He believes that it was with this photograph that the collapse of the Soviet Union began.
"Look at how the destruction of the Soviet Union began. The film "Intergirl" was released in 1989 during the time of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Everyone applauded, there was a line at the cinema, and the secretaries of the Central Committee went to see it. What were the results? "The country disappeared"
A group of deputies and senators, led by Volodin and the Chairperson of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, introduced a bill to the State Duma to ban propaganda without children.
The document proposes to change some provisions of the law "On information, information technologies and data protection". In particular, it was proposed to stipulate that the dissemination of propaganda against births will be grounds for including a site in the Unified Register of Prohibited Information of Roskomnadzor. Owners of social networks must monitor and block the corresponding content.
It is also proposed to amend the “Law on the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Health and Development” by including free propaganda among children in the information prohibited for distribution among children.
It was proposed to add a clause to the “Law on the Basic Guarantees of the Rights of the Child in the Russian Federation” obliging Russian state bodies to take measures to protect children from such information.
In the "Law on Mass Media", the authors of the amendments would like to stipulate that the Internet cannot be used to distribute materials that promote the denial of childbearing. Free propaganda of children is also prohibited in all advertising.
It is proposed to amend the “Law on State Support for Filming in the Russian Federation” to allow the refusal to issue distribution certificates if a film is considered to promote the refusal to have children.
Violations are punishable by a fine of up to 400 thousand rubles for individuals, up to 800 thousand rubles for officials, and up to 5 million rubles for legal entities.
The head of the Committee for the Protection of Family, Motherhood and Childhood Nina Ostanina emphasized that if the bill is adopted, Russian women will not be punished for saying "I don't want to give birth."
"The statement 'I don't want to have children' is an expression of a woman's individual position. No one is responsible for these words.
But "I hate these children. "Children are disgusting, they take up my free time, and I urge others not to have children," which would be seen as a refusal to give birth. This was explained in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru.
Committee member Vitaly Milonov assured our publication in a conversation that the phrase “I don’t want to give birth” will not be considered propaganda of childlessness and will not be fined.
"Propaganda is the dissemination of views, facts, statements, rumors, information (including distorted information) or deliberately false information with the purpose of forming a desired public opinion and manipulating public consciousness. Therefore, stories about oneself that do not encourage a third party to make this choice are not considered as such. Frankly, it is strange to imagine an ordinary woman publicly demonstrating her deviant position," Milonov said.
The MP had previously claimed that there was no movement for children's freedom in Russia, since its followers could effectively be identified with radical feminists and "body-positive leftists" who had elevated their beliefs to the level of ideology.
State representative Yana Lantratova previously explained that the bill is specifically related to the propaganda of the ideology of childlessness and the idea of denying childbearing.
"The statement that you do not want to have children is not included in the article. However, attempts to persuade other women to refuse to have children fail. "This bill is not aimed at women who decide not to have children, but at women who try to manipulate them and dissuade them from having children," he explained.
"The modern information environment, especially on the Internet, is very aggressive. There are entire communities where a dismissive and even hostile attitude towards motherhood and childhood is cultivated. Particularly severe sanctions were imposed on those who tried to promote childlessness among minors. "The consciousness of teenagers is malleable and easy to manipulate," he noted.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov previously stated that increasing the birth rate is a priority for the Russian government. When asked whether the Kremlin supported the proposal by Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko to ban child freedom movements, Peskov noted that the country's demographic problems are one of the government's main tasks.
"Increasing the birth rate is one of the priorities of the entire government. "Everything that hinders this must disappear from our lives," he said.
The Childfree movement is people who consciously refuse to become parents. In the 60s and early 70s, an organization called NON (National Organization of Non-Parents) emerged in the United States, founded by friends Ellen Peck and Shirley Radle. It became the first coalition of people to publicly declare that they would not have their own children.
According to the Weber Institute, more than half of Russians (57%) have a negative attitude towards childless people, while 28% are neutral. Only 10% have a positive attitude towards this ideology.
When asked how many children a family should ideally have, 3% said they have no children, and 6% said they have one child. The majority (44%) consider a family with two children ideal, and 29% consider a family with three children ideal. Only 9% consider four or more children ideal.