Russia bans adult website Brazzers for being damaging to the human psyche

[midian182]

Russia’s government isn't a big fan of online pornography. Following the blacklisting of video sites PornHub and YouPorn last September, the country’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has now blocked access to another popular adult site from parent distribution company MindGeek: Brazzers.

The ban is the result of a case from last October, brought against the Montreal, Canada-based firm by local prosecutors working "in the interests of the Russian Federation." As reported by The Moscow Times, the Bolsheglushitsky District Court of Samara Region ultimately ruled that the site’s content had a “deeply negative influence on the human psyche,” and that it “violated citizens’ rights.”

Russians only make up around 4 percent of all Brazzers’ traffic, but the number of visitors from the country has doubled over the last year. The company responded to the ban with a tweet that read: "Disappointed to hear that on such cold winter nights the good citizens of Russia have been denied the warm embrace of Brazzers entertainment."

Disappointed to hear that on such cold winter nights the good citizens of Russia have been denied the warm embrace of Brazzers entertainment

— Brazzers (@Brazzers) February 7, 2017

Roskomnadzor’s second banning of PornHub (the first was in 2015) came after accusation that the portal had violated child protection laws. The agency suggested that one Twitter user “meet someone in real life” as an alternative to using the popular site. Thankfully for him, both PornHub and YouPorn have since had their bans lifted.

Russia’s blacklisting of Brazzers because it supposedly damages the human psyche and violates human rights comes just as President Vladimir Putin signed a law that makes domestic violence legal in the country. Beating your spouse and children is now classified as a civil dispute rather than a criminal offense, and doing it without breaking bones is now punishable by a fine, or up to 15 days in prison if determined to be “serious,” instead of the previous two-year maximum prison sentence. The abuse isn’t a criminal matter unless it happens more than once a year. But at least Russians are protected from the dangers of Brazzers.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/68079-russia-bans-adult-website-brazzers-damaging-human-psyche.html

 

[gusticles41]

What an a$$-backwards country. There are countless Brazzers alternatives, so how is this even worth the effort?

 

[Trillionsin]

As if Brazzers is the worst thing online,. smh

 

[davislane1]

The ham-fisted political commentary in this article is, well, ham-fisted.

I said it in another thread, and I'll say it again in this one: This Rob guy is going to cost you traffic. Many people come to this website for news and hardware reviews, not to listen to bromidic political commentary that only serves to broadcast the author's feeling about the subject he's writing about.

Here's the offending paragraph:

Russia’s blacklisting of Brazzers because it supposedly damages the human psyche and violates human rights comes just as President Vladimir Putin signed a law that makes domestic violence legal in the country. Beating your spouse and children is now classified as a civil dispute rather than a criminal offense, and doing it without breaking bones is now punishable by a fine, or up to 15 days in prison if determined to be “serious,” instead of the previous two-year maximum prison sentence. The abuse isn’t a criminal matter unless it happens more than once a year. But at least Russians are protected from the dangers of Brazzers.

Now, say what you want about Putin. A lot of people think he's a bad guy, and maybe he is. But from this paragraph alone it is clear that Rob's personal feelings take priority over his reporting.

This, from USA Today:

Russia's parliament voted 380-3 on Friday to decriminalize domestic violence in cases where it does not cause "substantial bodily harm" and does not occur more than once a year.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...t-decrimiinalizes-domestic-violence/97129912/

That article is far more merciless to Putin and Russia than this piece is and even they had the integrity to not misrepresent the action as "legalizing" domestic violence. Beating someone is still a criminal offense (beating and battery are not the same thing, even in the United States. See: battery, assault, and aggravated assault).

Insofar as banning Brazzers... Time saved. Unless you have some type of moral conviction, you should be out actually banging chicks instead of watching them be banged by someone else. Maybe this will motivate some people to leave the desk and actually pull women.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Good points.... Luckily I think most of us here are intelligent enough to know Rob primarily posts things to promote his political views. We dont really care for his views and but happy to discuss them because that is what freedom is all about. Until the moderators, or Rob himself starts editing or deleting our comments I doubt anything will be done about his posts, even with how clearly bias they are. And rightfully so. If you don't like the subject matter, don't read it. Another great thing about freedom....

 

[misor]

And pornhub was banned in the Philippines many weeks ago...

 

[stewi0001]

Any Russians on Techspot with some feed back?

 

[davislane1]

Any Russians on Techspot with some feed back?

We're all Russian in our heart, comrade.

 

[kapital98]

The ham-fisted political commentary in this article is, well, ham-fisted.

There are two major issues. First, the language used by some of the contributors on this site is terrible. This article, along with many others, uses language and impressions that simply are not supported by the material (as will be discussed by point #2). However, unlike you, I don't see this as being politically motivated. Techspot does the same thing to almost everything they cover. The posts about Dell monitors are just as slanted and full of hyperbole as anything to do with Trump or Russia. Weirdly, this probably helps their internet hits. This clickbait BS is the norm now (I come to Techspot for general updates but go to other tech sites for serious reviews -- I have a deep ambiguity regarding the contributor's real understanding of many of the topics they talk about.)

Second, the new law is quite interesting. When someone says it's a "domestic violence" or "traditional values" bill they are just spinning it. The law decriminalizes everything from minor assaults to getting in heated arguments. Yet Western (especially US) residents should be careful when they talk about this issue. In the US we have concurrent jurisdiction between criminal and family court on this matters. In most cases, family court (a *civil* court) is the preferable place to deal with these issues. Criminilizing certain actions serves more as a punishment to the person than a way to solve the underlying problem. It's better to keep family's apart, or at least allow the children to live in a peaceful co-existence, than to needlessly attack each other in criminal court. Plus, unlike criminal court, the victims have full control of litigation in a civil proceeding (so, if they make up, the DA won't needlessly push ahead).

I see both sides as being hypocrits in this matter. The right is hypocritical because they support criminalization in the US but approve of Putin's move in Russia!? The left approves of this matter in the US but doesn't like Putin doing it!? Like most things, people care more about who said something than what was said. On a complicated matter like this Techspot just slants their position and most people have neither the desire nor the ability to research this further.

 

[kapital98]

On a related matter: In the US you only need to prove by 51% that domestic violence occurred for Family Court to intervene. In a criminal court it is a much higher "beyond reasonable doubt". Family Court actually makes it easier to go forward with preventing domestic abuse.

That's the US though. The rule of law is much weaker in Russia and reporting (which is already too low in the US) is probably much worse.

It's a very complicated matter.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Any Russians on Techspot with some feed back?

Da, da. Ve is not happy. Jus' kiddin'

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

So it's cool to belt your spouse black and blue but viewing some porn sites aren't? Yeah, makes sense. They're a strange, heavy handed lot. Oh those Russians... (as sung by Boney M in their song Rasputin in '78)

 

[Badonk4]

What an a$$-backwards country. There are countless Brazzers alternatives, so how is this even worth the effort?

Not as backwards as the us lol. The us is the king of backwards, of all the "industrialised" countries.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I see both sides as being hypocrits in this matter. The right is hypocritical because they support criminalization in the US but approve of Putin's move in Russia!? The left approves of this matter in the US but doesn't like Putin doing it!? Like most things, people care more about who said something than what was said. On a complicated matter like this Techspot just slants their position and most people have neither the desire nor the ability to research this further.

The best way to figure out perceived hypocrisy is to apply some context, common-sense, and look for the true motivation. Abuse 'without bodily harm' So... like a slap in the face. Do you think it's fair to send someone to jail for 2 years minimum for slapping someone? No? neither do they, which is why they voted 380-3. Here in America when we punish someone for domestic violence, it's far more severe than that. Add some context and the folks on the right aren't hypocrits anymore.

What about the left - well... imagine you're a politician and you just voted for this. Now your opponent can run a commercial that says 'Voted in FAVOR of domestic violence!!' Very few people on the left care about opinions that can't fit on a bumper sticker and they won't read into what the exact law was - they'll just decide based on that headline with the !!!! in it. So if you look at it that way - it makes sense why someone on the left would stand up against it. They're not motivated by applying some common sense to the law, they're motivated by the 'optics' of it (how it looks to the public who they don't think is very smart).

 

[kapital98]

The best way to figure out perceived hypocrisy is to apply some context, common-sense, and look for the true motivation. Abuse 'without bodily harm' So... like a slap in the face. Do you think it's fair to send someone to jail for 2 years minimum for slapping someone? No? neither do they, which is why they voted 380-3. Here in America when we punish someone for domestic violence, it's far more severe than that. Add some context and the folks on the right aren't hypocrits anymore.

If this were true it would be accurate. People don't get 2 years minimum for a slap in the face. A violation (like disorderly conduct or harassment) carries a maximum of 15 days in jail. It is not a crime but it is a criminal proceeding. Meanwhile, an act of violence like punching someone (assault) carries a maximum of one year in jail. I've seen hundreds of sentencings in person and I've never seen a first time offender recieve jail time -- it's usually a 1 year conditional discharge (ie, don't get into trouble for one year and you're fine).

What I was getting at is that it makes more sense for Family Court to deal with these issues in a household context. If a husband hits a wife it should be in Family Court.

The right are hypocrites because their entire opinion regarding Putin has radically changed since Donald Trump ran for president. Prior to Trump, Putin had a net unfavorability of 66% among the GOP. After Trump ran for president he knows has a net 10% unfavorability (source: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/gop-russia-putin-support-232714). This is stark contrast to the Democrats: They have kept pretty much the same degree of dislike for Putin now as a year before. Putin is a dictator and the democracy in Russia is a sham.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

The right are hypocrites because their entire opinion regarding Putin has radically changed since Donald Trump ran for president. Prior to Trump, Putin had a net unfavorability of 66% among the GOP. After Trump ran for president he knows has a net 10% unfavorability (source: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/gop-russia-putin-support-232714). This is stark contrast to the Democrats: They have kept pretty much the same degree of dislike for Putin now as a year before. Putin is a dictator and the democracy in Russia is a sham.

Well... everyone has been blaming Russia for hacking the Dem's emails and exposing the advantages Hillary had in the election (like getting the questions before the debate). We know there's a pretty good connection between Russia and Wiki-Leaks from the Snowden fiasco, so I can see why Putin got a boost in some polls.

But it's perfectly reasonable to agree with someone on some points and disagree with them on others. Like your statement above - I agree that the democracy in Russia is a sham, but I disagree that the right are hypocrites for taking some pleasure that the truth came out about how the Dem's ran a campaign.

Making everything an absolute is one reason this country is so politically divided. Look at Obamacare right now... plenty of Dems lost their job because they voted for that broken law. And now Reps are doing to 'Repeal and Replace' well.. how about Repair. Maybe we could keep the good stuff and fix the bad. The Dems could help in the process and get to keep things they want and then take some credit for it's success. Think that'll happen? Or do you think they'll oppose everything every step of the way because agreeing with even the slightest thing Trump is doing would go against their nature?
It's in the best interest of the Reps to have the Dem's help anyway - then it'll pass easily (like Bush's No Child Left Behind - bipartisan and it gets 90 of 100 votes in the senate).

But we both know that won't happen - too many people would be calling both sides a bunch of hypocrites. Progress is always 2nd place.

 

[Nobina]

The right are hypocrites because their entire opinion regarding Putin has radically changed since Donald Trump ran for president. Prior to Trump, Putin had a net unfavorability of 66% among the GOP. After Trump ran for president he knows has a net 10% unfavorability (source: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/gop-russia-putin-support-232714). This is stark contrast to the Democrats: They have kept pretty much the same degree of dislike for Putin now as a year before. Putin is a dictator and the democracy in Russia is a sham.

Well... everyone has been blaming Russia for hacking the Dem's emails and exposing the advantages Hillary had in the election

Yeah, the only thing they are missing is the actual evidence...nothing important tho.

 

[Nero7]

Isn't porn like pretty much banned in the UK too?

 

[USAvenger]

The best way to figure out perceived hypocrisy is to apply some context, common-sense, and look for the true motivation. Abuse 'without bodily harm' So... like a slap in the face. Do you think it's fair to send someone to jail for 2 years minimum for slapping someone? No? neither do they, which is why they voted 380-3. Here in America when we punish someone for domestic violence, it's far more severe than that. Add some context and the folks on the right aren't hypocrits anymore.

If this were true it would be accurate. People don't get 2 years minimum for a slap in the face. A violation (like disorderly conduct or harassment) carries a maximum of 15 days in jail. It is not a crime but it is a criminal proceeding. Meanwhile, an act of violence like punching someone (assault) carries a maximum of one year in jail. I've seen hundreds of sentencings in person and I've never seen a first time offender recieve jail time -- it's usually a 1 year conditional discharge (ie, don't get into trouble for one year and you're fine).

What I was getting at is that it makes more sense for Family Court to deal with these issues in a household context. If a husband hits a wife it should be in Family Court.

The right are hypocrites because their entire opinion regarding Putin has radically changed since Donald Trump ran for president. Prior to Trump, Putin had a net unfavorability of 66% among the GOP. After Trump ran for president he knows has a net 10% unfavorability (source: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/gop-russia-putin-support-232714). This is stark contrast to the Democrats: They have kept pretty much the same degree of dislike for Putin now as a year before. Putin is a dictator and the democracy in Russia is a sham.

Wait, you still put a lot of stock in polls after what just happened in this last election?!

 

[davislane1]

Wait, you still put a lot of stock in polls after what just happened in this last election?!

Curios fact: The same pollsters doing Trumps approval ratings also gave the Falcons a 98% chance of winning the Super Bowl. Whoops.

 

[fadingfool]

Isn't porn like pretty much banned in the UK too?

Yes but thankfully we can use Russian VPNs to get around this........