Russia mulls Bill to curb ‘childless propaganda’

Russia is facing an ageing population and low birth rates

Russian MPs on Tuesday (September 24, 2024) called for a ban on promoting childless lifestyles, the latest measures targeting what Moscow depicts as a liberal “ideology” at odds with Russia’s conservative values.

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.

The Kremlin, the powerful Russian Orthodox Church, and high-profile conservative public figures regularly promote what they call “traditional values,” both as a bulwark against Western liberal ideas and as a way to arrest Russia’s demographic decline.

“We have started considering a Bill banning propaganda of a conscious refusal to have children,” Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on social media.

The measures would amount to a “ban on the ideology of childlessness and the childfree movement,” he said. The proposed law would apply to materials online, in media, advertising and in films. Violations would be punishable by fines ranging from 4,00,000 rubles on individuals to 5 million rubles for businesses, Mr. Volodin said.

The latest Bill echoes a Soviet-era tax on men and women without children. Foreign citizens who violate its provisions would face detention or deportation, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

Published - September 25, 2024 11:10 am IST