Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has ordered a review into legalizing pornography and erotica. The move comes in response to a petition that collected the required 25,000 signatures for the issue to be considered by authorities.
Commenting on the initiative on Friday, Zelensky signaled that he had tasked Prime Minister Denis Shmigal “to process the issue raised in the electronic petition… and inform its author about the results of consideration.”
Zelensky noted that the national Constitution grants Ukrainian citizens the right to freedom of thought, speech and expression. However, this provision is limited, among other things, by a law on the Protection of Public Morality, which prohibits production and distribution of explicit materials.
The author of the petition, Taras Syromskyi, said that Ukrainian legislation in this area has many gaps which “give room for its interpretation” particularly regarding how eroticism is actually defined.
“The legislation does not explain well where eroticism is in art, and where eroticism is porn,” he writes. The author also said banning porn could also promote corruption.
At the same time, the legalization of porn presents “an ideal opportunity to bring money to the Ukrainian budget,” he said.
Zelensky’s response to the petition comes after he urged the prime minister to consider legalizing same-sex marriage following another petition last month. He noted at the time, however, that the Constitutional provisions on marriage could not currently be changed due to the martial law announced on February 24, the same day Russia began its military offensive in the country.