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Russia’s Safe Internet League wants Blue is the Warmest Color to be banned

Experts from Russia's Safe Internet League say the film can be regarded as a direct propaganda of pedophilia

"Blue Is the Warmest Color" director Abdellatif Kechiche ITAR-TASS/EPA

"Blue Is the Warmest Color" director Abdellatif Kechiche

© ITAR-TASS/EPA

MOSCOW, January 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Safe Internet League has revealed signs of pedophilia propaganda in the French film “Blue is the Warmest Color” and will request Russia’s Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications Roskomnadzor to ban its spread on the Internet, Safe Internet League CEO Denis Davydov said on Wednesday.

“The film “Blue is the Warmest Color” appeared on the Internet not so long ago, after which the league’s hotline received a number of complaints over its content together with links to some websites offering the film,” Davydov said. “The Safe Internet League’s experts examined the film and made an unambiguous but not very encouraging conclusion that, firstly, the film contains some scenes of pornographic nature and, secondly, these scenes involve minors.”

According to the league’s experts, this can be regarded as a direct propaganda of pedophilia, prohibited in Russia.

The Safe Internet League is a non-commercial organization launched by several major internet providers and a Christian charity. The declared aim of the group is ridding the Internet of dangerous content through self-regulation in order to prevent government censorship.

Davydov said the results of the expert examination will soon be forwarded to Roskomnadzor in order to add the Internet resources offering to download the film to the list of banned websites. Besides, the Safe Internet League will appeal to the Russian Culture Ministry for explanations how the film with such content was allowed to be released in Russia.

The sensation of the Cannes Film Festival and the most controversial film of the year, “Blue is the Warmest Color”, also known as “Adele: Chapters 1 & 2”, is a 2013 French romantic coming-of-age drama film written, produced, and directed by Franco-Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche. The film is based on the 2010 French graphic novel of the same name by Julie Maroh which was published in North America in 2013. At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the film unanimously won the Palme d'Or from the official jury, drawing a mixed reaction from the public and among film critics.

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