Russian censorship expands across streaming platforms, literature, and schools

Russian streaming platform Amediateka has edited or excised over 75 hours of material from roughly 200 foreign television series to comply with domestic censorship laws, according to an investigation by Mediazona. The cuts removed more than 7,300 individual fragments covering topics such as non-traditional sexual relationships, substance abuse, suicide, and incest, sometimes obscuring central plot points in major productions.

In a parallel legal decision, a Russian court banned the romance novel Heated Rivalry, ruling that its depiction of a romance between two male hockey players violated state prohibitions against non-traditional sexual relationships.

Meanwhile, educational institutions continue incorporating state-approved ideological materials. In regions such as Novosibirsk, supplementary textbooks portray military service in Ukraine as an honorable duty while contrasting Russian values with Western cultural influences.

Sources: Mediazona, NEXTA, The Insider, Verstka.