The invasion of Ukraine and the war that has lasted for three years now have introduced many changes to Russia. Among them, the establishment of censorship on Western cultural works is perfectly assumed by the authorities. That said, these measures have had collateral effects on the Russian cinema industry, and now threaten local streaming platforms. Explanations.
Cinemas in pain
On November 9, 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed decree number 809 which introduced a plan aimed at “Counter socio -cultural threats to national security of the Russian Federation by the promotion and defense of traditional family values, moral principles, productive work, patriotism and homeland service ”recall Torrentfreak.
This text concerns in particular the cinema sector and the operators of the rooms must obtain state distribution certificates to ensure compliance with the law. Added to the boycott measures of certain Hollywood studios, this device has a devastating impact on this industry. Thus, the results are qualified as “Depressors” And “Castastrophic” For the first half of 2024.
Legal streaming threatened
From now on, a new bill examined at Duma wants to apply the same certification rule to streaming services. The latter were doing so very well with an increase in revenues of 42 % in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Flashing the danger, the Russian Union Commission of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) has set up the niche against this project. It deplores risks of financial loss and a negative impact on the production and distribution of series.
According to Alexey Byrdin, presented by our colleagues as a veteran of the fight against hacking, and who is expressed in the name of the RSPP, this law would concern 50,000 films and TV series per year and it would directly impact the development of the legal market. He believes that this will push more people to pirate sites that already offer most of the Russian and Western content, sometimes even before the latter come out in theaters in the United States or Western Europe.
What to remember:
- Russia has established a certification system for films that are released in the cinema
- This censorship system has slowed down the activity of dark rooms
- It could now apply to local streaming platforms and series
- Professionals fear that this is further pushing Internet users to hacking
By: opera