Two Russian online film distributors, including a company owned by Nasdaq-listed Internet giant Yandex, have been charged with crimes related to the country’s LGBT propaganda law, according to a notice posted on the website of a Moscow court.
Russia last year expanded President Vladimir Putin’s restrictions on promoting LGBT propaganda amid a broader crackdown on queer rights that he has tried to cite as evidence of moral decay in Western countries.
Kinopoisk and Restream Media face administrative charges for “promoting non-traditional sexual relations” or “gender reassignment” online, according to a notice issued on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, two Kinopoisk and Restream Media executives were separately charged with the same crime, an online court notice showed.
Kinopoisk, owned by Yandex, and Restream Media, both owned by digital services giant Rostelecom has been fined many times under a similar provision that prohibits minors from “demonstrating” LGBTQ relationships.
This resulted in them listing films like Bridget Jones’s Diary and Perfect Strangers without the 18+ label.
A spokesperson for Kinopoisk told Reuters that the charge related to the listing of the US same-sex TV series Supergirl, and that the company plans to appeal the court order.
“Currently drafted laws and regulations do not provide sufficiently objective criteria to determine the promotion of non-traditional relationships,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
“We hope that the current practice of fines against online cinemas will be reconsidered with warnings.”
Restream Media did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.