According to multiple news sites, several years ago a Dutch court banned the screening and distribution of a Soviet children's film for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. We checked if this is true.

Here is what some resources report: “The list of Soviet films banned from showing in the West has been expanded. The next victim in the war of the European policy of social tolerance and multiculturalism against homophobia has fallen to everyone's favorite "Guest from the Future." The reason for such a harsh court decision was a lawsuit filed by the international non-governmental human rights organization Human Rights Watch.

The claims of human rights activists sound so absurd that it would simply be impossible to believe it if you did not know about other, no less absurd claims. So, according to the Dutch representatives of the mentioned organization, the children's serial film "Guest from the Future" promotes no more or less discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As evidence, the plaintiff provided the conclusion of a cultural examination, which stated that “in the audiovisual work studied by the experts, there are hidden signs of the presence of propaganda of sexual discrimination due to the use of two persons of the same sex as the main negative characters and contrasting them with positive heterosexual characters, belonging to the same social group and experiencing mutual affection.”

Based on the conclusion of Dutch cultural experts, the court decided to satisfy the claim and impose a ban on broadcasting and physical distribution of the film “Guest from the Future” throughout Holland. Well, so as not to injure the delicate mental organization of representatives of sexual minorities.” It is further reported that the court previously made a similar decision regarding the film “Timur and His Team.”

This information was disseminated by resources such as Zrpress, Fishki.net, "Peekaboo", Dallas Telegraph, Gorod.tomsk.ru, Obzor.com.ua, "Vyborg Gazette", "CentrAsia", "Russian portal" etc. The publication was also mentioned by the portal "Amateur".

This news became widespread eight or nine years ago, although it still occurs today. Earliest surviving cases its mentions date back to mid-July 2012. At the same time, which is typical, on the organization’s website Human Rights Watch, who allegedly filed the lawsuit, has no such information. Instead, many relatively early resources link to the news portal fognews.ru.

However, if you follow the suggested link, it turns out that the news has already been deleted. However, the site still exists and reports something about itself. In particular, it belongs registered media, although at the bottom there is a note: “We have changed the format, now only real news in a satirical vein.” How turns out, the site appeared at the beginning of the same 2012 and distributed satirical news, emphasizing their difference from fake ones. However, not everyone perceived them correctly. So, in response to the RIA Fognews news about the recognition of the fairy tale about Pinocchio as extremist and inciting religious hatred reacted Nikolai Svanidze, writing a corresponding article in the Daily Journal. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications had to refute the “news” about mandatory registration of blogs. And the leadership of the Chechen Republic planned to file a lawsuit in connection with the publication of information about the abolition of fees for housing and communal services in this region. In addition, the agency predicted the resignation of Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. However, after a protracted period of financial problems, the site was closed on September 4, 2014, and the domain was resold.

Note that in the same summer of 2012, the media covered news about the ban on showing the animated series “Well, wait a minute!” in Russia at any time except at night. This was allegedly caused by scenes of violence and smoking, which abound in the animated series. Later, this information, which was born from a misinterpretation of the words of an employee of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, refuted in Roskomnadzor. And the rental rating of 18+, which was referred to in the media, as it turned out, was assigned not to a Soviet cartoon, but to a Swedish one porn movie with the same name.