Russia Bans Games With 'LGBT Propaganda'
An amendment to a law that bans the distribution of 'LGBT propaganda' has gone into effect in Russia. Also in video games.
Russia's government puts into practice plans we we wrote about in November. From today, books, films, games, etc. that are "promoting LGBT" are banned in "national media" within the Russian Federation. The modernization of the law, a draft of which was submitted the previous month, was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The original version went into effect in 2013, and - in the nutshell - prohibited the sharing of materials promoting "sexual relations contrary to tradition" with children. Now this law has been expanded to "protect" adults as well. In other words, content that portrays LGBT ideology (and pedophilia) in a positive light cannot be distributed within Russia.
Violations are punishable by fines of up to 200-400 thousand rubles (about 3,200-4,500 USD), depending on the offense of individuals. For organizations, the fine can be up to 5 million rubles (or almost $100 thousand).
On the other hand, the proposal that repeated violations of this law should be treated as a criminal matter (and therefore likely to put us in jail) was rejected. The same goes for the idea that games depicting "violence and cruelty" should also be banned.
As a reminder: this change means that such games and series as The Last of Us: Part II, Borderlands, Dragon Age, Divinity: Original Sin and Fallout can probably no longer be sold in Russia. For now, it is difficult to compile a complete list, as Russian government officials are sending conflicting signals on what exactly is considered "promoting of LGBT-related behavior" (via PC Gamer).
