DOUBLE STANDARDS AND MILLIONS IN TAXES: HOW THE VERKHOVNA RADA FAILED TO DECRIMINALISE PORN

On 28 May 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine once again put on a display of political hypocrisy and imaginary moralism. MPs rejected Bill No. 12191, which was intended to remove outdated Soviet-era norms from the Criminal Code and decriminalise the creation of adult content by voluntary consent between adults. The decision fell short by a mere 19 votes — only 207 MPs voted in favour of this Bill.

This decision sparked a wave of justified outrage among the media, human rights activists and the whole of progressive society. After all, the reality in which we live has long been at odds with the punitive laws of the last century.

We collect taxes, but we imprison people?

The main paradox of the situation was aptly described by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Ярослав Железняк) in his blog:

“This is not the ‘legalization of porn’, because it is de facto legalised in our country, and we have been collecting millions in taxes from that very same OnlyFans for a couple of years now. This is decriminalisation.”

The state officially, regularly and publicly reports millions in tax revenue to the budget of a country at war, from digital service platforms (the so-called ‘Google tax’). The OnlyFans platform is consistently included in the list of the largest payers of this tax, along with such giants as Google, Apple and Meta.

However, this is where the highest degree of cynicism lies: morality allows the state to take money from adult platforms. Instead, leaving Article 301 of the Criminal Code in force, which allows Ukrainians to be imprisoned for a term of 3 to 5 years for the simple sending of personal “nude” or voluntary creation of content with the consent of two adults, is the official position of the majority of parliament.

Where resources go during the war: a BRDO study and the cost of restrictions

The figures speak volumes about where the law enforcement system is actually focusing its efforts during this most gruelling war for survival. According to an infographic published by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, in 2025 alone, law enforcement officers spent over 17,700 working hours on cases under Article 301 of the Criminal Code.

Ukrainian investigative journalists and specialist media sharply criticize such imitation of the work of law enforcement agencies. Time and again, they draw public attention to the absurdity of the situation: instead of protecting national security, fighting corruption or investigating actual war crimes, the police are conducting "control purchases", spy on the webcams of adult citizens in their own apartments, and spend millions of hryvnias from taxpayers’ pockets on meaningless art expert examinations - and all this just for the sake of paper statistics and the implementation of the "plan".

As an organisation that was directly involved in the working group developing this bill, we at the  CO «Legalife-Ukraine» have calculated the financial cost of this law enforcement absurdity. According to our estimates, at least 10 million hryvnias (of taxpayers’ money is spent each year on prosecutions under ‘pornography laws’. This represents a net loss to the state in terms of salaries, allowances and transport costs for the police officers involved in these pointless prosecutions.

The budget is losing millions: the financial cost of the reform’s failure

While the state spends millions on pointless raids, the state budget loses colossal sums that could be used to bolster Ukraine’s defence capabilities and anti-corruption security. Experts from the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) have calculated that decriminalising pornography could bring 509 million hryvnias in tax revenue to the budget each year.

These funds have a very real and critically important defence significance. This money would be enough to purchase 24,000 self-guided FPV drones for the front line or to fully fund the operations of Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court for a whole year. However, due to the failure of the bill, these millions remain in the shadows, fuelling corruption risks and police ‘protection rackets’, instead of officially working for the state and bringing us closer to victory.

Who actually benefits?

Our director, Nataliia Isaieva (Наталя Ісаєва), who has led this movement for years, emphasised in a comment for the international publication DW that the current law protects no one but corrupt law enforcement officers, and that both content creators and ordinary people become victims.

“Only law enforcement agencies benefit from criminalization - those who "cover it up". “That is why the law enforcement agencies themselves do not want to recognize sex work as work or decriminalize porn”, Natalia Isaeva noted in an interview with DW.

What is most surprising, however, is that even within the security sector there is an understanding of the need for change. As reported by the publication ‘Ukrainska Pravda’, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko (Ігор Клименко), had previously stated that his ministry had approved the text of the draft law submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, and the matter was left entirely to the decision of the MPs. However, yesterday parliament rejected this step towards common sense.

A blow to human rights and sex workers

The so-called ‘fight for morality’ leaves in place tools for police arbitrariness, blackmail and extortion. Whilst law enforcement officers fabricate cases of ‘pimping’ or “solicitation” against sex workers who, for their own safety, simply work together or rent shared premises, vulnerable people remain completely defenceless before the law.

Criminalising and stigmatising the voluntary work of adults does not destroy the sector itself, but drives it deep underground, where the risks of violence, exploitation and offenses grow every day.

Yesterday’s vote proved that the path to genuine European integration and respect for the right to work in Ukraine is still being blocked by outdated stereotypes and corrupt interests.

Team of the CO “Legalife-Ukraine”

Originally published on the 29^th of May 2025