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Ukraine makes tax revenue off the creators of pornographic content, but also threatens them with prosecution. A draft law aims to fix what many say is an unfair contradiction.
April 14, 2025Updated 11:18 a.m. ET
As Ukraine contends with a war raging on its eastern front and Russian attacks on its cities, one lawmaker is working on something that he says could help the nation: legalizing pornography.
Yaroslav Zhelezniak, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s finance committee, is leading a push to ditch what he sees as outdated Soviet-era legislation that bans the possession, production and distribution of pornography.
Doing so, he said, would remedy what he and people making pornographic content say is an unfair contradiction.
Violations of Ukraine’s laws on pornography — Article 301 of the criminal code — are punishable by three to five years in prison. But Ukraine’s financial authorities have been collecting taxes from creators on websites known for adult content like OnlyFans.
That means that people who pay taxes on the pornography they produce can be prosecuted for it. “It’s absurd,” Mr. Zhelezniak said, especially “in the midst of a full-scale war.”
He also sees another benefit for Ukraine in changing the law. It would increase tax revenue, he said, since more pornography creators would be willing to declare their earnings — a boost for an economy struggling under the demands of a war that has ground on for over three years.
