Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed concern about the widespread popularity of pornography around the world and called for the development of more attractive alternatives to attract people’s attention.
During his more than four-hour annual “Straight Line” event in Moscow on December 19, Putin acknowledged the widespread popularity of pornography and proposed developing more “interesting” alternatives to attract people’s attention.
According to “Russia Today”, Putin said that adult content is not only a problem in Russia, but also a global phenomenon. “This is not only a problem for us, but also a problem for many other countries. “
He emphasized that while banning such content may be an option, it is more important to provide alternatives that provide a more compelling and interesting experience. “What might be the answer? Generally speaking, you can ban, but you should always offer a more interesting alternative to a porn site. That way a person will get in there, open a porn site and say, ‘I’ve seen this , I want to see something else.”
Putin’s comments come as concerns about online content and its impact on social norms have reached global proportions. While many countries are working to regulate adult content, Putin is focused on promoting a cultural shift that provides more engaging and positive alternatives to online pornography.
According to Statista reports, adult content websites receive billions of traffic globally. As of May 2024, Pornhub had approximately 5.49 billion monthly visits, followed by Xvideos with 4.02 billion monthly visits. The Statista report also points out that adult content remains one of the main categories of online traffic.
A few months ago, in September 2024, Vladimir Putin made headlines with an unconventional proposal to address Russia’s declining birth rate. He reportedly encouraged Russians to develop close relationships during lunch and coffee breaks at work. At the time, Russia’s fertility rate was about 1.5 children per woman, well below the 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.
In addition, Russian Health Minister Dr. Yevgeny Shestopalov also chimed in, saying that being too busy at work should not be an excuse to avoid having children. He suggested people could use their downtime to focus on expanding their families.