Russian streaming platforms and publishers face expanding content censorship

Russian digital media, educational institutions, and publishers are subject to heightened state content restrictions and ideological alignment. According to an investigation by Mediazona, streaming platform Amediateka removed over 75 hours of footage from around 200 foreign television series. The censorship targeted over 7,300 scenes involving non-traditional relationships, drug use, suicide, and incest, in some cases removing critical plot lines.

Concurrently, legal prohibitions on foreign media continue to expand. A Russian court banned the romance novel Heated Rivalry, citing legal prohibitions against depicting non-traditional sexual relationships.

In the education sector, schools in regions like Novosibirsk have incorporated patriotic materials framing military participation in Ukraine as a civic duty while positioning Russian values against Western cultural influences.

Sources: Mediazona, NEXTA, The Insider, Verstka.