On November 21, supporters of the United Russia party discussed the bill, which would give the guardianship authorities the right to prohibit minors recognized as victims in criminal cases of violence from participating in television programs, with representatives of federal television channels.
Shield from public comment
Cases when the topic of sexual violence involving children is broadcast on television in entertainment talk shows are not rare. The story of Diana Shurygina, which thundered all over the country, showed that Russian children are in no way protected either from their parents, who often, out of selfish motives, bring their children to the show, or from media representatives, thus raising the ratings of TV channels. Four television broadcasts were dedicated to this girl, after which a wave of hatred fell on her and her family on the Internet. However, the bullying took place not only on the Internet, the family received threats, the girl's mother was attacked on the street and beaten, and the tires were punctured in her father's car.
The bill, drafted by the deputy Anton Gorelkin, partly in response to the situation, obliges television broadcasters to obtain permission from the guardianship and guardianship authorities to demonstrate on the air of underage victims of violence. According to the parliamentarian, this will put an end to stories when film crews come to the regions in search of interesting stories and are looking for dysfunctional families. “They offer parents a fee of 100,000 rubles or more, so that they give permission to participate in a TV show. When you talk to them that this is wrong, they ask for 200 thousand rubles in return,”Gorelkin explained.
“The details that journalists are pulling out and discussing are outrageous, and this is done with parental consent,” said Sergei Boyarsky, a member of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection. “Naturally, all normal people are outraged by this phenomenon, because it can negatively affect the fate of a teenager who will live his whole life with such dubious fame.”
As the deputy explained to “Parlamentskaya Gazeta”, giving the guardianship authorities the right to give permission or deny it to parents for the participation of their minor children in the TV show would be the right decision.
“Sometimes the parents of such children pursue selfish goals. While you need to be more visionary and think about the psyche of the child. That the teenager could somehow survive this problem without public attention,”said Sergei Boyarsky.
Kirill Kalinin, Deputy Director General of the Saint Petersburg TV Channel, supported the initiative. According to him, today there are no sanctions in Russian legislation that can be applied to the media. “The editorial staff of the TV channel can disseminate information about a child who has been sexually abused and cannot bear any responsibility for this,” the expert added.
You need to ask your parents
Oksana Pushkina, Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, is confident that the decision to transfer such powers to the custody and guardianship authorities will not lead to the desired results.
“The guardianship service is poorly optimized, their salaries are very low, there is no transport, and therefore it is difficult to get from one family to another. Therefore, it is stupid to shift this responsibility onto them,”the deputy said.
According to her, it is the parents who fail to comply with their responsibilities to protect their children: “They draw attention to their underage children, traumatize their psyche. If I take my child to television, then the law must ask me. Maybe we will ask our parents according to the law ?!"
The representative of VGTRK, lawyer Zoya Matvievskaya, agreed with her, who believes that the initiative will affect not only the media sphere, but also the sphere of the Civil and Family Codes. “If the parents act against the interests of the child, then the question of deprivation of parental rights should already arise,” she said.
According to her, all prohibitions have already been established in Russian legislation. “The media are already limited in many ways. For us, only one way of disseminating information is left. Because often information about an event in relation to a child begins when the protection of his rights begins,”concluded Matvievskaya.