ロシア、「子なしプロパガンダ」禁止検討

【モスクワＡＦＰ＝時事】ロシアの連邦議会が、子どもを持たないライフスタイルの推奨禁止を検討している。同国の保守的な価値観と相いれないリベラルなイデオロギーと政府が見なすものを標的とした最新の措置となる。（写真は資料写真）
　少子高齢化に直面するロシアは、ウクライナ侵攻で加速した人口減少の反転を試みている。
　大統領府（クレムリン）、ロシア正教会、保守派の著名人らは、西側のリベラルな思想に対する防波堤、そして人口減少を食い止める手段として、たびたび「伝統的価値観」を奨励している。
　ビャチェスラフ・ウォロジン下院議長は、「われわれは、子どもを持つのを意識的に拒否することを推奨するプロパガンダを禁止する法案の検討を始めた」とＳＮＳに投稿。
　法案は「子どもを持たないというイデオロギーと子どもを持たないことを推奨する運動を禁止」するものになると説明した。
　オンラインコンテンツやメディア、広告、映画が対象となる。
　ウォロジン氏によると、違反した個人には４０万ルーブル（約６０万円）、企業には５００万ルーブル（約７８０万円）の罰金が科される。
　同氏は「円満な大家族は強い国家の基盤だ」と付け加えた。
　大統領府は先週、この法案を支持するそぶりを見せた。
　ドミトリー・ペスコフ大統領報道官は２０日の会見で、「出生率を上げるために必要なことはすべてやらなければならない。そしてこの障害はすべて、われわれの生活から消えるべきだ」と述べた。
　ロシアの出生率は２０２４年上半期、過去２５年間で最低を記録した。
　ロシアではウクライナ侵攻開始以降、大勢の若者が動員されて戦地に送られたり、徴兵を逃れて国外に脱出したりしている。
　この法案は旧ソ連時代の「子なし税」をほうふつとさせる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/09/26-17:03）

Russian MPs on Tuesday called for a ban on promoting childless lifestyles, the latest measures targeting what Moscow depicts as a liberal ideology at odds with Russia's conservative values.
Facing an ageing population and low birth rates, Moscow is seeking to reverse a demographic slump -- accentuated by its military offensive on Ukraine -- that threatens its economic future.
The Kremlin, the powerful Russian Orthodox Church and high-profile conservative public figures regularly promote what they call traditional values, both as a bulwark against Western liberal ideas and as a way to arrest Russia's demographic decline.
We have started considering a bill banning propaganda of a conscious refusal to have children, parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on social media.
The measures would amount to a ban on the ideology of childlessness and the child free movement, he said.
The proposed legislation would apply to material online, in media, advertising and in films.
Violations would be punishable by fines ranging from 400,000 rubles ($4,300) on individuals to five million rubles for businesses, Volodin said.
A large and friendly family is the basis of a strong state, he added.
The Kremlin last week appeared to offer its backing to the bill.
Everything that needs to be done to increase the birth rate must be done. And everything that hinders this should disappear from our lives, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday when asked about the planned bill.
Russia recorded its lowest birth rate in 25 years in the first half of 2024.
Hundreds of thousands of young men have either been called up to the army to fight in Ukraine or fled abroad to avoid being conscripted.
- 'More important things' -
Positive depictions of couples who have chosen not to have children are already rare in Russian popular culture.
I can't say that I've seen a huge amount of this 'propaganda' or that I've come across it anywhere online, Victoria, a 47-year-old psychotherapist told AFP in Moscow.
To be honest I don't think this question is very relevant right now in our country. I think there are some more important things that could be discussed, she added.
But Abdullah Shamkhalov, a 49-year-old businessmen backed the measures.
I am in favour of banning such things. Let people get married, have children. This is the most important thing in life, he told AFP in Moscow, calling those who promote living without children as godless and part of a sect.
The proposals resemble legislation passed more than a decade ago that banned propaganda of LGBTQ relationships to minors, a law that was extended to adults in 2022.
That ban effectively outlawed any representation of what Moscow called non-traditional sexual relations in public and in the media as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on Russia's LGBTQ community.
The latest bill also echoes a Soviet-era tax on men and women without children.
In a bid to boost births, President Vladimir Putin has already revived a Soviet tradition of awarding medals to parents of large families, who also benefit from various tax and welfare benefits.