Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy Artem Metelev and Senator Alexei Pushkov are preparing a bill that will toughen administrative responsibility and introduce criminal liability for trash streamers, a representative of the deputy told Vedomosti.
Depending on the severity of the act, parliamentarians propose punishing streamers with higher fines and, possibly, confiscation of property or a ban on using the Internet; it is proposed to provide for criminal liability for repeated offenses.
“The goal is to limit the activities of thrash streamers: such activities, if a crime is committed on the air in order to increase the negative effect, should, in my opinion, become an aggravating circumstance. More effect (severity of punishment) means more responsibility,” Metelev said.
Possible amounts of fines and terms of criminal liability are not yet known.
RIA Novosti clarifies that punishment may be provided for the distribution on the Internet of “photos and videos depicting bullying and scenes of cruelty for mercenary or hooligan purposes.”
The issue of punishment for trash streamers earlier in the day was raised by TV presenter and journalist Ksenia Sobchak in response to a post on the Telegram channel of a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, director of the Safe Internet League, Ekaterina Mizulina, which dealt with a prepared list of streamers and bloggers who advertise gambling and online -casino.
Mizulina also commented on the problem of trash streamers in her Telegram channel, outlining several nuances that should be taken into account when drafting the bill. Among them are turning off donations, content moderation by platforms, the fact that the victims are not always real, and the need for help and treatment for the streamers themselves, since, according to her, many of them are registered with psychiatrists or suffer from drug addiction.