Russian news agency fined for posting review of Heated Rivalry
Posted on: Apr 15, 2026 23:34 IST | Posted by: Cbc
A Russian margaret court has fined a local word federal agency and 1 of its directors thousands of dollars for a critique that it posted on the smash hit series Heated Rivalry, which Russian lawmakers consider LGBTQ+ propaganda.
The news agency running the site was fined 500,000 rubles, which is the equivalent of more than $9,000 Cdn. A director of the agency was fined 50,000 rubles, or about $900 Cdn.
Heated Rivalry, which was produced for Bell Media's streaming platform, Crave, and airs on HBO Max in the U.S., can only be watched in Russia through a VPN or on pirated sites.
Despite the viewing restrictions, the show has a large fan following in Russia, with tributes and fan content popping up on social media.
On Kinopoisk, a Russian version of the Internet Movie Database, votes from more than 60,000 fans have given Heated Rivalry a rating of 8.3 out of 10.
The series revolves around the steamy relationship between Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov and Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander.
One of the plot points in this series revolves around Rozanov’s fear that he wouldn’t be able to return to Russia if he came out publicly as gay.
Russia has a sweeping ban on anything the government deems LGBTQ+ propaganda.
The legislation, which was expanded and signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022, prohibits the dissemination of information about LGBTQ+ people in the media, along with any material that promotes what Russian lawmakers consider “non-traditional” relationships.
Under this law, books and films have been pulled from shelves and off streaming sites. In 2024, Russian media reported on a list of banned books that had been circulating among retailers, including works by Oscar Wilde and Haruki Murakami.
That same year, Russia's media regulator stopped websites from offering pirated streams of Brokeback Mountain.
Russia has also declared what it considers the LGBTQ+ movement an "extremist organization” and has convicted individuals of posting images of the Pride flag.
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