- Trump says Zelensky 'should never have let' Ukraine war start
- Harris woos undecided voters as Trump riles critics over Ukraine
- Hayes turns focus to US women's World Cup goal
- Zelensky seeks EU, NATO backing for 'victory plan'
- Bosch stuns Australia as South Africa reach Women's T20 World Cup final
- What we know about One Direction star Liam Payne's death
- Nicotine pouches rise in popularity as US youth tobacco use hits 25-year-low
- Mendis clinches Sri Lanka series win over West Indies
- Israel says killed Hamas chief Sinwar in Gaza
- Panel urges Secret Service shake-up after Trump assassination bid
- Trump, Harris back on friendly ground after tough interrogations
- Pressure on Ten Hag is 'too much': Brentford boss Frank
- Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar: Israel's most wanted man
- ECB bans transgender women from women's professional cricket
- Monaco aiming to last in Ligue 1 title fight with PSG
- Kenya deputy president impeachment trial in chaos after he falls ill
- English coaches 'capable' of managing national team, says Southampton boss
- Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies retires from international rugby
- Real Madrid fans dismiss 'fake' Mbappe rape reports
- IMF chief calls for unity on shared challenges in 'deeply troubled times'
- Australia post 134-5 in semi-final of women's T20 World Cup
- Tech giants go nuclear in AI arms race
- 1,100 mpox deaths recorded across Africa: CDC
- UK's National Gallery bans liquids after activist art attacks
- Onboard wifi is latest frontline in airline competition
- Instagram moves to face rising tide of sextortion scams
- Tributes to One Direction's Liam Payne after hotel balcony fall
- Bangladesh court issues arrest warrant for ex-leader Hasina
- Israel says 'checking' if Hamas chief Sinwar killed in Gaza
- Victims of Vietnam tycoon's record scam count losses after sentence
- EU leaders talk tough on migration, but divided on action
- Global stocks climb as ECB cut rates and tech rebounds
- Biden heads to Germany to discuss Ukraine, Middle East
- US retail sales pick up pace in September
- Pakistan sense series-levelling win over England after Sajid heroics
- Kenya deputy president falls ill during impeachment trial
- Mbappe to keep any explanations for Swedish justice, 'if necessary' - lawyer
- 345,000 Gazans face 'catastrophic' hunger this winter: UN
- ECB makes back-to-back interest rate cuts as inflation falls
- France's richest family, Red Bull in 'exclusive talks' for Paris FC takeover
- Public money 'must be at core' of new climate pact: UN's Stiell
- Russian MPs back ban on 'propaganda' of childless lifestyles
- New Zealand on top after India bowled out for 46 in rain-hit Test
- UK's Lammy visits China in bid to reset London-Beijing ties
- What's next in Swedish rape investigation into Mbappe?
- Nestle overhauls executive team as sales slump
- US B-2 bombers strike Huthi facilities in Yemen: military
- Eurozone stocks climb as ECB rate cut looms
- Lebanon crowdfunded ambulances under fire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- S Korean Nobel winner Han Kang hopes daily life 'won't change much'
CMSC | -0.65% | 24.76 | $ | |
RIO | -1.34% | 65.075 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 13.12 | $ | |
BCC | -3.29% | 142.32 | $ | |
JRI | -0.3% | 13.13 | $ | |
NGG | -1.44% | 67.17 | $ | |
BCE | 0.2% | 33.548 | $ | |
RBGPF | 1.67% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.32% | 25.07 | $ | |
BTI | -1.29% | 35.345 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.68% | 7.35 | $ | |
RELX | 0.91% | 48.594 | $ | |
VOD | -1.13% | 9.74 | $ | |
GSK | -0.22% | 39.125 | $ | |
AZN | -0.42% | 77.98 | $ | |
BP | 1.26% | 31.325 | $ |
Russian MPs back ban on 'propaganda' of childless lifestyles
Russian MPs on Thursday approved the first reading of draft legislation banning the "propaganda" of childless lifestyles, the latest measure targeting what Moscow depicts as Western liberal ideas.
Facing an ageing population and low birth rates, Moscow is seeking to reverse a demographic slump -- accentuated by its military offensive on Ukraine -- that threatens its economic future.
Lawmakers unanimously backed draft legislation to ban "propaganda" advocating the "rejection of childbearing".
Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin urged them to support it. "Today there is a war on the ideological front," he argued.
The proposed legislation would apply to public materials, whether online, in media, advertising and in films.
Violations would be punishable by fines up to 400,000 rubles ($4,020) on individuals to five million rubles for businesses. The bill also includes a provision to deport foreigners.
This would amend existing legislation that already bans any information seen as encouraging LGBTQ relationships or changing gender.
"We propose cutting off information threats," one of the bill's authors, Elvira Aitkulova told MPs, introducing herself as a mother and grandmother.
More than 22 percent of Russian couples do not have children, she said. "Manipulative technologies" were persuading Russians that "not having children is the norm", she added.
- A 'demographic crisis' -
The "strategic" legislation targets "openly destructive content" and online material with titles such as "10 reasons not to have children", she said.
"It is not about personal choice or lifestyle, it is precisely propaganda that comes under the ban."
More than a decade ago, Russia banned "propaganda" of LGBTQ relationships to minors, and extended this to adults in 2022.
This effectively outlawed any representation of LGBTQ people in public and in the media, part of a Kremlin crackdown on what it calls "non-traditional values".
President Vladimir Putin in a 2022 decree set a policy goal of "strengthening traditional Russian spiritual and moral values".
Oleg Nilov from the A Just Russia party told parliament the trend not to have children was "very dangerous for our country" when it is "in such a complex demographic crisis".
"This must be banned and stopped harshly and unfailingly" he said.
Speaker Volodin linked the phenomenon to the use of inclusive language and even unisex toilets in the US and Europe.
"What will the result be? Sodom and Gomorrah, we don't want that," he said.
"Every free country must defend itself."
One lawmaker, Sardana Avksentyeva, voiced some concern about the legislation, saying it raised the "risk of denunciations".
"People must be stimulated to create a family," she added.
- Falling birth rate -
The Kremlin has appeared to offer its backing to the bill.
"Everything that needs to be done to increase the birth rate must be done," its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month.
Russia recorded its lowest birth rate in 25 years in the first half of 2024.
Hundreds of thousands of young men have been called up to fight in Ukraine or fled abroad to avoid conscription.
In a bid to boost births, Putin has revived a Soviet tradition of awarding medals to parents of large families, who also get tax and welfare benefits.
Russian television has aired fear-mongering coverage of those who do not want children, linking this trend to the United States.
Around one in 15 Russian women aged 30-40 does not want children, Channel One reported last month, citing polls, but in Moscow it is one in five.
In a crackdown on "non-traditional" ideas since launching its Ukraine offensive in 2022, Russia last year banned what it called the "international LGBT movement".
H.Seidel--BTB