MOSCOW — Two Russian lawmakers have called on the country’s government to implement age verification for adult content.
Yevgeny Masharov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation's Commission for Public Review of Bills and Other Regulatory Acts, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that adult content leads to “distorted behavior patterns” in minors.
“What can be done to counter this, to rectify the situation and balance the psychological state of still-unformed minds, is to stipulate that content marked 18+ can only be accessed by Russian users after identification via a passport, driver's license, and bank information,” he said.
Meanwhile, Andrei Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology, and Communications, told Gazeta.ru that Russian citizens should expect to lose online anonymity within the next five years.
“Every internet user will register with some specialized identifier that will verify their age and other necessary access rights,” he said.
While agreeing with his colleague, Deputy Anton Nemkin, another member of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology, and Communications, urged caution in implementing age verification.
“The initiative to introduce mandatory user identification when accessing 18+ content online is a step undoubtedly aimed at protecting minors and creating a safer digital environment,” he said. “It's important that the identification system doesn't lead to personal data leaks or create obstacles for law-abiding users and businesses.
“The idea itself is worthy of discussion, but its implementation should be phased, with clear guarantees of cybersecurity, personal data protection, and transparent oversight of who will process the information and how,” he added.