Two Russian online film distributors, including a company owned by Nasdaq-listed internet giant Yandex have been charged with offenses under the country’s so-called LGBT propaganda law, a notice on a Moscow court’s website said. Russia last year expanded its restrictions on the promotion of what it calls LGBT propaganda amid a broader clampdown on queer rights, which President Vladimir Putin has sought to portray as evidence of moral decay in Western countries.
Yandex-owned Kinopoisk and Restream Media, majority-owned by digital services giant Rostelecom have both been fined repeatedly under a similar article banning the “demonstration” of LGBTQ relationships to minors. That resulted from them listing films such as “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Perfect Strangers” without an 18+ label. A spokesperson for Kinopoisk told Reuters that the charge was related to its listing of the U.S.