QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY

Ivan Rodivilin

UDC 343.2/.7

QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY

Published in Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation · Issue 3, 2026 · Pages 184–197 · Rubric: Criminal law sciences

Received: 08.03.2026 Accepted: 30.09.2026 Published: 30.09.2026

Authors

Ivan Rodivilin

Academic degree: candidate of jurisprudence sciences

GU MVD Rossii po Irkutskoy oblasti Russian Federation

ABSTRACT

Introduction. The article examines the problems of criminal-legal qualification of acts related to the broadcasting of scenes of a sexual nature on the Internet (webcam activity) in the context of the rapid development of digital technologies outpacing the legislative process. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing scale of the webcam industry, its high latency, and the lack of uniform approaches in law enforcement practice. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study includes the dialectical method of cognition, formal legal, comparative legal, systemic-structural methods, as well as the analysis of judicial practice (verdicts of the Vologda City Court, the Moscow District Court of Tver, rulings of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation) and doctrinal sources. The Results of the Study. Key qualification problems have been identified: the absence of legal definitions of "pornography" and "erotica"; difficulties in distinguishing between public and private broadcasts in the context of the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 15, 2022 No. 37; ambiguity of judicial approaches to establishing direct intent, including cases of recognizing the absence of a crime when a person was unaware of the technical features of information dissemination; problems of qualifying the actions of various participants (organizers, models, accomplices); difficulties of proving in conditions of anonymity, use of cryptocurrencies, and the cross-border nature of the activity. Findings and Conclusions. The article substantiates the need for legislative consolidation of the conceptual framework considering modern technologies, clarification of the signs of the objective side of crimes, development of uniform approaches to assessing the subjective side in judicial practice, improvement of investigation methods and mechanisms of international cooperation. It is concluded that the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 15, 2022 No. 37, which clarified the understanding of public demonstration, cannot be applied to acts committed before its adoption, which requires consideration when qualifying continuing crimes.

KEYWORDS

webcam industry, qualification of crimes, pornography, public demonstration, Internet, criminal liability, judicial practice, subjective side, digital technologies.

1. Evdokimov K.N. Struktura i sostoyanie komp'yuternoy prestupnosti v Rossiyskoy Federatsii [Structure and state of computer crime in the Russian Federation] // Yuridicheskaya nauka i pravookhranitel'naya praktika. 2016.no. 1 (35). pp. 86–94.

2. Antonyan Yu.M. Prestupnaya seks-industriya (prostitutsiya, pornografiya, prestupnost') [Criminal sex industry (prostitution, pornography, crime)] : monografiya. – Moskva, 2024. – 180 p.

3. Repetskaya A.L. Sovremennye tendentsii razvitiya prestupleniy, sovershaemykh s ispol'zovaniem informatsionno-telekommunikatsionnykh tekhnologiy [Modern trends in the development of crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies] // Baikal Research Journal. – 2025. – T. 16, № 3. – pp. 947–953.

4. Kufleva V.N., Litovchenko A.I. Novelly kvalifikatsii webkam-kontenta kak publichno rasprostranyaemoy pornografii [Novelties of qualification of webcam content as publicly distributed pornography] // Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya. – 2023. – № 3. – pp. 129–133.

5. Alekseeva T.S. Problemy kvalifikatsii webkam-deyatel'nosti po priznaku publichnosti [Problems of qualification of webcam activity on the basis of publicity] // Vestnik Rossiyskoy pravovoy akademii. – 2024. – № 2. –pp. 52–58.

6. Evdokimov K.N. Kriminologicheskaya kharakteristika lits, sovershayushchikh prestupleniya v sfere komp'yuternoy informatsii [Criminological characteristics of persons committing crimes in the field of computer information] // Yuridicheskaya nauka i pravookhranitel'naya praktika. – 2017. – № 2 (40). – p. 85–91.

7. Solov'ev V.S. Ispol'zovanie sotsial'nogo segmenta seti Internet dlya soversheniya posyagatel'stv na polovuyu neprikosnovennost' nesovershennoletnikh [Using the social segment of the Internet to commit attacks on the sexual integrity of minors] // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta MVD Rossii. – 2017. – № 3. – pp. 192–195.

8. Ovsyanikova A.A. Seksual'naya ekspluatatsiya kak forma nasiliya nad nesovershennoletnimi [Sexual exploitation as a form of violence against minors] // Vestnik Vladimirskogo yuridicheskogo instituta. – 2013. – № 3 (28). – pp. 82–86.

9. Khromov E.V. Razgranichenie razvratnykh deystviy i rasprostraneniya pornograficheskikh materialov sredi nesovershennoletnikh v seti Internet [Differentiation of depraved acts and distribution of pornographic materials among minors on the Internet] // Ugolovnoe pravo. – 2024. – № 5. – pp. 70–75.

10. Efremova M.A., Russkevich E.A. Dipeyk i ugolovnyy zakon [Deepfake and criminal law] // Vestnik Kazanskogo yuridicheskogo instituta MVD Rossii. – 2024. – T. 15, № 2 (56). – pp. 97–105.

11. Kufleva V.N. Webkam-industriya i ugolovnyy zakon [Webcam industry and criminal law] // Ugolovnoe zakonodatel'stvo: vchera, segodnya, zavtra : materialy ezhegodnoy vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, Sankt-Peterburg, 03–04 iyunya 2022 goda / pod obshch. red. T.A. Ogar', D.M. Kokina ; sost. N.I. Kuznetsova. – Sankt-Peterburg : Sankt-Peterburgskiy universitet Ministerstva vnutrennikh del Rossiyskoy Federatsii, 2022. – pp. 157–162.

12. Swords J., Laing M., Cook I.R. Platforms, sex work and their interconnectedness // Sexualities. – 2023. – Vol. 26, №. 3. – P. 329–348. – DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607211023013. – URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13634607211023013 (date of access: 01.03.2026).

13. van Doorn N., Velthuis O. A good hustle: the moral economy of market competition in adult webcam modeling // Journal of Cultural Economy. – 2018. – Vol. 11, № 3. – P. 177–192. – DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1446183. – URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17530350.2018.1446183 (date of access: 01.03.2026).

14. Weitzer R. The campaign against sex work in the United States: a successful moral crusade // Sexuality Research and Social Policy. – 2020. – Vol. 17, № 3. – P. 399–414. – DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-019-00404-1.

15. Sharapov R.D. Ugolovno-pravovaya otsenka rasprostraneniya pornografii v seti Internet: analiz pravovykh pozitsiy Plenuma Verkhovnogo Suda RF [Criminal-legal assessment of the dissemination of pornography on the Internet: analysis of the legal positions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation] // Ugolovnoe pravo. – 2023. – № 4. – pp. 128–134.

16. Khiltunov N. Problemy kvalifikatsii prestupleniy, predusmotrennykh st. 242 UK RF [Problems of qualification of crimes under Article 242 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation] // Zakonnost'. – 2024. – № 6. – pp. 32–36.

17. Repetskaya A.L., Rodivilin I.P. Ugolovno-pravovoe i kriminologicheskoe protivodeystvie prestupleniyam v sfere obrashcheniya okhranyaemoy zakonom informatsii [Criminal-legal and criminological counteraction to crimes in the sphere of circulation of information protected by law]. – Irkutsk : Izd-vo BGU, 2021. – 178 p.

18. Solov'ev V.S. Kriminologicheskie riski tsifroseksualizma [Criminological risks of digisexuality] // Vestnik Rossiyskoy pravovoy akademii. – 2020. – № 3. – pp. 52–57.

19. Webb P. The erotic arts. – New York : Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1983. – 569 p.

JATS XML

Chief Editor

Olga Avdeeva

Executive Secretary

Anatoliy Tirskih

fvs-mvd@mail.ru

downloads

GOST

Rodivilin I. P. QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY // Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation. 2026. no. 3. pp. 184-197. URL: https://kvsz.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162f32807fdbab8723fd/qualification-of-crimes-related-to-the-broadcasting-of-scenes-of-a-sexual-nature-in-the-context-of-the-digital-transformation-of-society/view. (Date of access 28.10.2026).

MLA

Ivan Rodivilin. "QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY." Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation.3 (2026): 184-197. URL: https://kvsz.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162f32807fdbab8723fd/qualification-of-crimes-related-to-the-broadcasting-of-scenes-of-a-sexual-nature-in-the-context-of-the-digital-transformation-of-society/view.

APA

Rodivilin I. P. (2026). QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY. Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation(3), 184-197. URL: https://kvsz.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162f32807fdbab8723fd/qualification-of-crimes-related-to-the-broadcasting-of-scenes-of-a-sexual-nature-in-the-context-of-the-digital-transformation-of-society/view

Chicago

Ivan Rodivilin. "QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY." Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation, no. 3 (2026): 184-197. URL: https://kvsz.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162f32807fdbab8723fd/qualification-of-crimes-related-to-the-broadcasting-of-scenes-of-a-sexual-nature-in-the-context-of-the-digital-transformation-of-society/view.

WIKI

{{cite journal | author = Rodivilin I. P. | title = QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY | journal = Vestnik of the East Siberian institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation | year = 2026 | issue = 3 | pages = 184-197 | url = https://kvsz.ru/en/nauka/publications/article/6a9c162f32807fdbab8723fd/qualification-of-crimes-related-to-the-broadcasting-of-scenes-of-a-sexual-nature-in-the-context-of-the-digital-transformation-of-society/view }}

Copy

Export: BibTeX EndNote RefMan RusMARC

QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES RELATED TO THE BROADCASTING OF SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY

Confirmation