The Volokh Conspiracy

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Crime

Ukraine bans broadcast of many Russian films

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sticks an Ukrainian flag and the state emblem on an armoured vehicle at Kiev airport on March 25, 2015 during a welcoming ceremony of the first US plane delivery of non-lethal aid, including 10 Humvee vehicles. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images

KyivPost.com writes that the law (signed April 2 by President Petro Poroshenko) bans the broadcast of

  1. movies—apparently defined to include TV programs—"'that glorify the government,' military, law enforcement and other 'punitive agencies of the aggressor state … that were made since August 1, 1991,'"
  2. "all Russian movies made since January 1, 2014, almost two months before Russia invaded Ukrainian's Crimean peninsula," and
  3. "movies with actors who pose a national security threat with their actions or public statements"; "[t]he list of actors will be approved and published by a special commission of the State Film Agency of Ukraine."