About protecting children from information

On December 29, 2010, the Federal Law No. 436- “On the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development” was adopted. It will come into force on September 1, 2012. This law applies to almost everyone who posts any information on the Internet (and not only on the Internet), so it makes sense to briefly read the provisions of the law.
Read the text here , and below comments and thoughts about.

By the way, a child is considered to be a person under the age of 18, so the term “children” should not be perceived as referring only to very young ones.

Someone is lucky and the law does not apply to him. No need to think about the protection of children to those who disseminate scientific, scientific, technical, statistical information; products of significant historical, artistic, or other cultural value to society; advertising. More lucky libraries, museums and archives - access to information in their public funds can not be limited.
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Advertisers, however, were not very lucky - they have their own laws, which also set fairly strict restrictions. To pretend to be a library, in fact, not being such, will also not be so easy - the library user must present identity documents, and children under 14 must be parents' documents. Products of significant value are most likely implied to be included in the relevant registries. To conduct an erotic film and action movie as a scientific too will not work.

The law applies to everything: printed materials, the Internet, computer programs, information content providers of mobile networks, etc.

For the first time in our legislation, pornography is defined. Pornography is information presented in the form of a naturalistic image or description of the human genital organs and (or) sexual intercourse, or a sexual act comparable to sexual intercourse, including such an act committed in relation to an animal. At the same time, a naturalistic image or description is an image or description in any form and using any means of a person, animal, separate parts of the body of a person and (or) an animal, actions (inaction), events, phenomena, their consequences with fixing attention to details, anatomical details and (or) physiological processes.

That is, pornography actually recognizes any fairly detailed image of the genitals. The image of a naked person without a clear demonstration of the genital organs, most likely, will not be recognized by pornography - and thanks for that.

Under no circumstances should children be shown products:

• encouraging children to commit acts that threaten their lives and / or health, including harm to their health, suicide;
• able to make children want to use drugs, psychotropic and (or) intoxicating substances, tobacco products, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products, beer and beverages made on its basis, take part in gambling, engage in prostitution, vagrancy or begging - this can be brought virtually any demonstration or description of the process of smoking or drinking;
• justifying or justifying the permissibility of violence and (or) cruelty, or encouraging violent acts against people or animals;
• denying family values ​​and formative disrespect for parents and (or) other family members - the wording “family values” is interesting here, which, apparently, will be interpreted as conservatively as possible (hello to gays, lesbians, childfree and ingrained bachelors) ;
• justifying wrongful conduct;
• containing obscene language - hello Tyome Lebedev ;
• containing pornographic information

At first glance, there is nothing terrible in this list, but one should not forget that the interpretation of everything that is written in the law will be dealt with by so-called “experts”: these are persons with special knowledge in the field of pedagogy, age psychology, age physiology, and children’s psychiatry. Moreover, representatives of the manufacturer of information products in the expert committee is prohibited to include. It is not difficult to imagine what kind of experts they will be: 99%, that it will be elderly bigots who will faint from a toy such as Counter Strike - there you can play for terrorists!

In addition, this list is not exhaustive . Further in the law, age limits are introduced: up to 6, from 6 to 12, from 12 to 16, over 16. Accordingly, this list also includes what is forbidden to children over 16.

"Children under 16" now we can never be faced with:

• a picture or description of an accident, accident, catastrophe, illness (and if their consequences are truthfully shown and described, this is strictly 18+);
• non-episodic depiction or description of cruelty and (or) violence (with the exception of the interests of society or the state used in cases of protecting the rights of citizens and legally protected interests of society or the state — that is, you can show how the police shoot a criminal or a Soviet soldier’s fascist, but vice versa it is impossible); moreover, if violence is shown without expressing compassion for the victim and without condemning cruelty, this is strictly 18+;
• any information about narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances - i.e., it is impossible even to tell about their harmful effects;
• any abuse, even non-foul language;
• non-episodic descriptions of sexual relations between a man and a woman (and it is men and women); however, descriptions that “exploit interest in sex” and descriptions of actions of a sexual nature are strictly 18+.

Total - almost any film and any book will fall into the category of 16+, or even 18+. Not to be unsubstantiated:

• Dostoevsky, “Crime and Punishment” - 18+ (naturalistic depiction of the process of deprivation of life);
• Conan Doyle, books about Sherlock Holmes - 18+ (drug use);
• Stevenson, “Treasure Island” - 18+ (illegal behavior is justified - piracy);
• Operation “S” - 18+ (violence is shown without expressing compassion for the victim and (or) a negative, condemning attitude towards cruelty).

(You can see in parentheses that the above is subject to a clause on products that "have significant historical, artistic or other cultural value for the society" - but this is not the point, but the fact that it is quite innocent and has been considered for many years to suitable for children, and even specifically for them intended works are legally in the category “for adults only”).

Before putting products on the territory of the Russian Federation (including via the Internet, so hosting abroad does not help), it is necessary:

• Assign products an age rating in accordance with the law.
• If the products fall into the section “older than 18” and will be located in “places accessible to children” - take administrative, technical, organizational and other measures to protect children from the products. Here we have “public places where the child’s access to and (or) the presence of a child in which is not prohibited, including public places in which the child has access to mass media products and (or) information products placed on information and telecommunication networks ". Roughly speaking, if a child can access information uncontrollably, it is necessary to take protection measures. What measures these will be is not yet known, but given that the government will develop them, one can already begin to fear.

For violation of the provisions of this law will be established responsibility, it is quite possible that in some cases, and criminal.

The question of what to do if the content distributor is located outside the Russian Federation is not clearly reflected in the law. Most likely, will block.

It should also be borne in mind that in resolving all judicial, and especially administrative cases involving minors, the decision maker will obviously be biased. Because "it's children." And to prove something, given the abundance of appraisal terms and the availability of expert opinion (which, let me remind you, the old hypocrites are likely to do with 99% without the participation of the creator or distributor of content) will be almost unreal.

So it goes.

UPD: As it turned out, the law was drafted at the Research Institute of Problems of Strengthening Law and Order at the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. This explains the delusional language.