A group of MPs registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) draft law No. 9623which provides for the partial decriminalization of the porn industry. The relevant changes are planned to be made to the Criminal Code.
The document is titled «Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on Ensuring Freedom from Interference with Private Life». The purpose of the draft law is to «decriminalize acts related to pornography in the part that does not pose a public danger, as well as the creation or maintenance of brothels and pimping, as not causing significant harm, which will strengthen protection against interference with privacy».
In fact, the draft law amends Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which currently provides for punishment for «importation, manufacture, sale and distribution of pornographic items». The new version proposes to punish only those cases of porn creation that endanger other people:
Thus, the independent voluntary creation and distribution of explicit content, if draft law No. 9623 is passed, will no longer be a criminal offense.
Another proposal of the draft law is to repeal Article 302 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for punishment for the creation or maintenance of brothels and pimping.
It is expected that the adoption of the bill will increase tax revenues to the budget by bringing «out of the shadows» the pornography business, which will be affected by decriminalization. However, even now Danylo Hetmantsev reminds about the need to pay taxes on his income from OnlyFans. By the way, the name “Hetmantsev” is not among the initiators of draft law No. 9623.