Russian media and schools alter content amid strict censorship laws

Russian streaming services, publishers, and educational authorities continue to alter content to enforce strict domestic cultural guidelines.

According to an investigation by Mediazona, amplified by The Insider, the Russian platform Amediateka removed over 75 hours of content across 200 foreign television series. Censorship affected nearly half of its imported catalog, cutting roughly 7,300 scenes to erase references to prohibited topics such as LGBT themes, drug use, suicide, and incest.

Meanwhile, Verstka reported that a Russian court banned the hockey romance novel Heated Rivalry after determining that the text contained depictions promoting prohibited non-traditional sexual relationships.

In public education, NEXTA cited reports of supplementary materials introduced in Novosibirsk schools that encourage patriotic duty, frame participation in the war against Ukraine as an honor, and criticize Western cultural norms.

Sources: Mediazona, NEXTA, The Insider, Verstka.