Russian officials investigate Netflix after LGBT content complaint

What just happened? Russia has launched an investigation into Netflix after the public commissioner for the protection of families accused the streaming service of violating a “gay propaganda” law. The commissioner says Netflix violated a 2013 Russian law that prohibits the distribution of “propaganda about non-traditional sexual relationships” among those under 18 by hosting LGBT-themed content with age ratings of 16 years or older.

Reuters reports that the Moscow department of the Interior Ministry is now considering Commissioner Olga Baranets’ complaint. If found guilty of violating Russian law, Netflix could be fined up to 1 million rubles ($ 13,400) or face a temporary suspension of its service.

Russian daily Vedomosti reports that a Netflix source says the company checked its content earlier this month and found no LGBT content in its catalog with a rating of 16+. Engadget The newspaper writes also reported that officials may ban streaming services that show content that includes “non-traditional sex and sexual deviations.”

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia’s gay propaganda law violated European treaty rules, violated the right to freedom of expression, and discriminated against LGBT people.

The move is Russia’s latest attempt to exert more control over the internet, especially when it comes to US entities. Authorities fined Google just under $ 82,000 earlier this year for failing to comply with demands to remove more than 26,000 instances of “prohibited” online content, and earlier this week demanded that foreign companies establish local offices in the country by 2022 to comply with a law that took effect in July. It listed Apple, Google, Meta (Facebook), Telegram, TikTok and Twitter among the 13 companies that must create an official presence in Russia.