‘Create more passionate content,’ Putin pitches for alternatives to porn

Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin argued Thursday (Dec 19) that ‘interesting and more passionate’ content should be created to encourage people to ditch pornographic content. Putin admitted adult content was popular globally and just imposing bans and restrictions won’t fix the situation. "Porn sites are visited all across the world. It is not just an issue for us, but for everyone," Putin said.

Putin instead emphasised on creating more ‘engaging’ and compelling alternatives to porn.

"There can be bans and prohibitions, but one has to always come up with alternatives — something more engaging and more interesting than a porn website to fill the void that causes greater interest," the Russian president argued at his annual press conference aired by state-backed RT news channel.

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Putin earlier sparked global interest by offering an unusual suggestion amidst Russia’s declining birth rate crisis. Putin had advised people to engage in sexual activities during lunch and coffee breaks in a bid to boost the country’s sagging fertility rate. Today, the fertility rate stands at a mere 1.5, way below the required rate of 2.1 for demographic stability.

Last year, Putin had urged Russian parents to have as many as eight children and make large families the "norm".

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"Many of our ethnic groups have preserved the tradition of having strong multigenerational families with four, five, or even more children. Let us remember that in Russian families, many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven, eight, or even more children," Putin had said.

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Russia’s population has been on the decline since the 1990s, a trend that has reportedly accelerated over the last three years due to the Ukraine war. An independent Russian policy group Re:Russia claimed that around 1 million people may have already fled the country to avoid military enlisting.

There are also concerns that Russia may face a severe workforce shortage and an increasing economic slowdown due to sanctions imposed by the West.

(With inputs from agencies)