Russia to create a register of pedophiles

Russia is planning to create a single electronic registry of sexual abusers of minors, Meduza reported, citing State Duma deputy Anastasia Udalsova.

According to reports, Ksenia Sobchak’s “Krovavaya Barinya” Telegram channel published screenshots of a letter in response to Udalsova’s request in June. The document was signed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.

It states that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is conducting pilot design work on creating such a registry. The system is scheduled to be launched in 2027. Although Udalsova herself did not publish this letter on her channel, Sobchak and two other channels reposted this message.

In particular, the “Baza” Telegram channel, which has close ties to the security forces, previously reported, citing its own sources, that such a registry was being created. The Expert publication, which interviewed Udalsova, also published a similar report. The journalists said that they also have the document cited by Sobchak's channel.

According to all three sources, the new database will be called "Violent Pedophile". The Expert publication reports that the database will be closed and only employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have access to it. However, Udalsova believes that this registry should be open. It is not yet known how this database will be formed. In particular, it remains unclear whether or not people with previously expunged convictions will be included in it.

The idea of creating such a database has been discussed in Russia for the past ten years. In 2015, the chairman of the Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, made such a proposal to the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. The deputy noted that the creation of an open database of pedophiles is in line with international practice.

In July, the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Communications published a project to develop a system for combating online crime. The document stated that it was necessary to consider the creation of such a registry. However, it was not planned to implement all the proposed mechanisms until 2029.