Russian MPs consider ban on media violence
Russian MPs are considering a proposed law that would tighten restrictions on showing violence on television, a measure that critics warned could make everything from boxing matches to news coverage of terrorist attacks illegal.
The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, unanimously passed a proposed bill in the first of three required readings that would forbid news programmes, documentaries, films and other serials from showing details of murders and other violence between 7am and 10pm.
Russia already has a law outlawing the depiction of violence and cruelty on television, but it is not enforced.
Russian news programmes and crime documentaries regularly show close-ups of murder victims.
War documentaries include brutal footage, and popular television serials are often violence-filled dramas about the criminal underworld.
