In Ukraine, a record number of cases about porn content related to children was registered

During the first seven months of the current year, 1,943 cases related to pornography (Articles 301 and 301-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) were registered. It is important to note that over 64% of all cases were related to child pornography content," as reported by OpenDataBot statistics.

Year by year, the number of investigations under these articles has been increasing, with a peak in 2023. While the average monthly number of cases related to adult content increased by 27% in 2021 and 2022, this year's increase is 77%.

It's worth noting that Article 301-1 (child pornography) was separated in 2021, but statistics on it only appeared in the reports of the Prosecutor General's Office in 2022.

According to BRDO, in 2021, law enforcement spent approximately 85,500 working hours on cases related to Article 301 of the Criminal Code concerning the distribution of adult pornography. This is roughly equivalent to a year of daily work without holidays for 41 investigators. In 2021, only half of the pornography cases reached the courts, while 205 were closed during the pre-trial investigation stage.

To recall, on August 15, Ukraine initiated discussions on a new draft law regarding the decriminalization of adult pornography. However, the responsibility for creating pornography related to children (Article 301-1) is not revoked in the draft, and the penalties for distributing adult content to minors are strengthened.

Currently, Ukrainian legislation stipulates the following responsibilities:

Article 301 of the Criminal Code, manufacturing and distribution of pornography: fines of up to 68,000 UAH, imprisonment for up to three years. If the content is distributed among minors, the fine increases to 85,000 UAH, and imprisonment extends to five years.
Article 301-1, accessing child pornography, carries a penalty of imprisonment for up to six years.

However, there is no clear understanding of what constitutes "distribution" of pornography in the country, and the law does not differentiate between personal and commercial sexual content. In practice, any Ukrainian can find themselves in a situation where sending erotic photos or pornographic videos to their partners or acquaintances could lead to a criminal sentence. Meanwhile, individuals involved in the production of adult content have no legal protection, cannot work officially, and cannot pay taxes.