The Russian photographer was sentenced to 18 months of compulsory labor for producing fan art of Stray Kids featuring a same-sex romance between the members.
Authorities in Russia linked Alexandra Kuzyk to a fanfiction story that was published online in 2022 and charged her with breaking a Russian law against the “production and distribution of pornographic materials”.
The court reportedly sentenced her to four years in prison, but the prosecutor instead had it changed to compulsory labour, and 10% of her salary was withheld by the state for the duration of her sentence.
Fanfiction Became Part of Investigation
The case reportedly started with a woman calling the police, reporting that her underage daughter had read the story online. Later, LGBTQ+ health group Parni+ pointed out the work as fan fiction of Stray Kids.
In court, Kuzyk admitted to writing the novels and gave a reason that writing fan fiction has been her hobby for a long time. Fanfiction, a creative form that has been around for years, is the creation of new stories about celebrities, fictional characters, or alternate worlds, and it is particularly prevalent in K-pop fandom culture.
It is usually regarded as harmless and fun online content in fandom spaces. However, in Russia, all this has changed lately, and a lawsuit has brought such “fan-made” content to a much more serious legal spotlight.
Increasing Crackdown on LGBTQ+ Content
Growing scrutiny of fiction platforms, manga sites, and fan-created queer content is part of Russia’s new “LGBT propaganda” law. This law has added more regulations to limit visibility of the LGBTQ+ community online.
In recent years, the law has reportedly banned or fined multiple fanfiction and mangafiction websites. Critics and rights groups say these laws are increasingly being used to limit online expression and creative communities.
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