The Verkhovna Rada’s Law Enforcement Committee has supported Bill No. 12191, which would decriminalize porn in Ukraine. It proposes amendments to Article 301 of the Criminal Code, which prosecutes authors of adult content on Onlyfans and other platforms.
The Verkhovna Rada’s Law Enforcement Committee has supported Bill No. 12191, which would decriminalize porn in Ukraine. It proposes amendments to Article 301 of the Criminal Code, which prosecutes authors of adult content on Onlyfans and other platforms.
This was announced by People’s Deputy and Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
«This version is more conservative and has been prepared for more than a year in discussions with the committee and working group. I hope that at the beginning of next year we will be able to bring it to the floor. Once again for the media — this is exactly the DECRIMINALIZATION of porn. This is NOT the „legalization of porn“ — it is legalized, and we have been collecting millions in taxes from the same OnlyFans for a couple of years,» the MP wrote.
According to him, the amendments to Article 301 of the Criminal Code are aimed at ensuring that «adults are not thrown in prison for 3-5 years for filming and distributing videos of an intimate nature.» He noted that currently, under this article, you can be punished even for storing nude photos on your phone.
«There will still be a lot of revisions before the second reading. The law will still be finalized. But now we need to move with the law. This has become especially relevant because of the situation with the taxation of OnlyFans models and letters of happiness from BEB, which you heard about last week from the media,» Zheleznyak added.
Earlier, Danylo Getmantsev, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, said that 350 Onlyfans models in Ukraine have already filed tax returns and paid UAH 59.0 million in personal income tax and military duty. He called the conviction and criminal prosecution of adult content creators a «festival of hypocrisy».
The Office of Effective Regulation (BRDO) has estimated that decriminalizing pornography could bring UAH 509 million in taxes to the budget. This amount would be enough to purchase 24,000 FPV drones with auto-homing or to support the work of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine for an year.
According to BRDO estimates, in Ukraine about 5 thousand people work in webcam modeling and more than 3500 sell content on OnlyFans. Their average monthly income is about $1650, including beginners and those partially employed in this field. The amount of income also takes into account the commission of the studio where the model works. BRDO assumes that the decriminalization of pornography will cover 100% of the webcam modeling market and 50% of OnlyFans authors.
«Creators of intimate content in Ukraine face criminal prosecution under Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. At the same time, authors of pornographic materials are required to pay taxes for their activities. Decriminalization of pornography and normalization of taxation of the sector can provide the budget with UAH 509 million in additional taxes,» the Office of Effective Regulation noted.
It was previously reported that the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BEB) came to search two OnlyFans models allegedly due to intentional tax evasion, although they had done so a month earlier.
