Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved legislation banning "propaganda in favor of a childfree lifestyle." Supporters say the law will help solve the country's demographic crisis, while critics call it a tool for increasing social control. TaiwanPlus speaks about this new law with Ksenia Kirillova from the Jamestown Foundation.
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00:00Putin wants to use this law to ban the content that he calls child-free ideology.
00:06What does this look like in practice and what precedent does it have in Russia?
00:10The main purpose of Russian repressive law is to put as many people as possible
00:18to the group of risk of being charged with criminal and administrative offence.
00:25Russia also tried to ban a non-existent movement of supporting non-traditional sexual relations.
00:34But actually no such movement exists in Russia.
00:37And this law just targets any person who identifies himself as a representative of LGBT plus community.
00:49So that means that a very huge number of people can be charged in any criminal case.
01:01Russia doesn't have ideology of child-free. It's not ideology.
01:05In practice, the targets of this law will be just ordinary people
01:10who would dare publicly mention that they are not ready to have children.
01:17What are the causes of Russia's demographic crisis and how might this law affect it?
01:22It's due to some natural reasons.
01:24Because I think in the whole world we observe now some decline of population.
01:34And of course we have specific Russian reasons.
01:37Poverty, the war, of course, and people living in anxiety.
01:45They are uncertain about the future.
01:47Of course they are not ready to have children now.
01:50No ban can actually influence on Russian demographic situation.
01:54Because the modern love style, way of life and even reproductive inclinations of people are already well established.
02:04What are Putin's goals in passing this law?
02:06It's just to implement more control over Russian society.
02:11Because now I think that the main purpose of Russian repression
02:18is that Russia doesn't have independent courts, independent media,
02:24any system of checks and balances, any dividing of aspiration of powers, nothing.
02:30So the only way that people try to find protection is to demonstrate their loyalty to the state, to the government.
02:41So I think this law aims to increase this psychological need to find government protection.
02:53Because people feel uncertain, people feel themselves at risk and no one knows what would happen with him tomorrow.