Russian Federation

[RU] Law on the Protection of Minors against Information Detrimental to their Health and Development Adopted

IRIS 2011-4:1/34

Andrei Richter

Comenius University (Bratislava)

On 21 December 2010 the State Duma (parliament) adopted at the third and last reading the bill “О защите детей от информации, причиняющей вред их здоровью и развитию” (On the Protection of Minors against Information Detrimental to their Health and Development) (see IRIS 2009-8/29), which was signed into law by the President on 29 December 2010. It comes into force on 1 September 2012.

The new federal statute shall regulate “products of the mass media, printed materials, audiovisual materials on any material object, computer programmes and databases, as well as information disseminated by means of public performance and on the information telecommunication networks of general access (including Internet and mobile telephony)” (Art. 2). It shall not regulate advertising, or information of “historical, artistic or any other cultural value to society” (Art. 1).

The Statute defines seven categories of information banned for dissemination among minors (persons of below 18 years of age). They range from pornography (also defined in the Statute) to information that contains “bad language” and “negation of family values” (Art. 5 para. 2).

The ratings of the “informational products” related to the age of their consumers shall be as follows: below 6 (years old), 6+, 12+, 16+ and 18+ (Art. 6 para. 3). The Statute introduces mandatory specific labeling of the products including TV programmes (other than live broadcasts) in accordance with their age rating (Arts. 11-12). Airing of products labeled 16+ shall be allowed on TV only from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., and those labeled 18+ from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. (Art. 13)

Producers and distributors shall be responsible for marking their products in accordance with the directives of the new law. In particular it encourages them to solicit an expert opinion (that is an opinion of experts as to what category the product belongs) from organizations and experts accredited by the government, specific rules and legal consequences of which are also regulated in the bill. The expert opinion as to computer and other games is mandatory.