Actor and State Duma deputy of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation Dmitry Pevtsov, whom a Ukrainian court sentenced to 10 years in prison for promoting war against Ukraine, announced the need to tighten censorship in Russia. He published the corresponding post on May 29 on Telegram.
We are talking about strengthening state control in the cultural sphere. Pevtsov actually proposed introducing elements of censorship, comparing the possible system with the mechanisms of the Soviet era.
In the published text, he argues that, in his opinion, the modern Russian cultural industry – cinema, theater, TV series and online platforms – is filled with “vulgarity, disgust, blasphemy and dirt.” Pevtsov expressed indignation at the alleged absence of a unified state ideology in modern Russia, pointing to this as a problem in the formation of criteria for evaluating cultural products. In his interpretation, this is what creates a “vicious circle” in which it is impossible to determine what is acceptable in art and what is not.
As a solution, he proposes strengthening control over how the state spends funds on cultural projects, and creating a special commission or committee that would evaluate and regulate the content of works of art.
“Let me remind you: the “Code of the Builders of Communism”, with minor corrections, was based on the commandments of Moses (starting with the fifth). This ideology is a very specific conceptual corridor, “jumping” from which any artist, director, writer, etc. (representative of any creative profession) remained out of work, deprived of viewers, fees, creative prospects, etc.,” the actor wrote.
He also draws a parallel between culture and defense, arguing that if the state controls the quality of weapons, then similar control should extend to “soft power” – art and media, especially in times of war.
At the end of his statement, Pevtsov expresses the opinion that in the future, combatants can play a significant role in the development of Russian culture, who, in his words, will tell society “what is possible and what is not.”
“And stop being afraid of something – “oh, we’ll break something!”, “oh, we’ll offend someone!”, “oh, innocent people will suffer!”… Enough! We’ve already lost three or four generations of our children. It’s time to put an end to this!” – Pevtsov summarized.
