In Russia, online cinemas will be taken under control – through them “you can influence the minds of citizens”
The Russian authorities will take control of large Internet cinemas. The corresponding draft law was adopted in the first reading today in the State Duma.
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One of the initiators of the adoption of the law, deputy Andrei Lugovoy from the LDPR, explained that today the audience of online cinemas reaches hundreds of thousands of people, and in the near future it will amount to millions per day.
“Through audiovisual services you can influence the minds of citizens and shape public opinion... Audiovisual services are beginning to occupy a special position within the framework of the cold information war that is being waged in the global world,” he said.
“Online cinemas with a large audience - such platforms are of strategic importance for any state,” agreed Leonid Levin from A Just Russia.
The law will oblige owners of online cinemas to register with Roskomnadzor by notification. Age rating labeling for films will be introduced. It is planned to prescribe a procedure for removing illegal content. For services where the number of visitors from the Russian Federation per day reaches 100 thousand people, a restriction will be introduced - the participation of foreign capital should not exceed 20%.
A restriction on displaying political advertising will be introduced for online cinemas. The deputy's colleagues did not like this point. They reminded Lugovoy that he himself is a representative of an opposition party. In some regions, the opposition may be blocked from accessing TV, and online advertising could be a way out. Lugovoy responded by promising that this norm would be spelled out in more detail by the second reading.
Lugovoy clarified that the authors of the bill are aware of the difference between online cinemas and services like Youtube, where users upload videos themselves - their provisions will not be affected by the new law.
The deputy also said that, based on the experience of introducing previous restrictions on the Internet, he predicts a wave of criticism in the media. In his opinion, this is due, in particular, to the reluctance of online players to legalize their profits.
“Companies with a capitalization comparable to Gazprom.” Therefore, it is clear that everything we propose is turned upside down in the media,” Lugovoi said, noting that earlier with regard to laws on the Internet, “the whole bacchanalia in the media was launched mainly from abroad.”
Some deputies expressed concern that the innovations would ultimately lead to higher prices for access to online films.
And deputy Alexey Kurinny from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation said that there is a commercial interest behind the introduction of control over online cinemas.
“A mixture of a witch hunt, an attempt by the state to regulate something that, by and large, does not need to be regulated. On the other hand, there are interests of certain commercial structures that are interested in “crushing” this market for themselves. I analyzed who is actively playing on this field today. There is such a well-known AFK-Sistema - the owner of MTS, the owner of a number of media outlets - this system is actively engaged in buying up these assets. And, it is clear that the introduction of new restrictions in the form of foreign participation is clear lobbying of the company’s interests. There are others who want to take a leading position in this market,” Kurinny said.
He also stated that the bill is written in such a way that officials will have the opportunity to qualify as online cinemas, for example, opposition party resources with videos, which will immediately fall under the restriction of political advertising.
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