Porn Laws in Eastern Europe – Where Can You Watch Porn

It’s not always easy to watch porn. Slow internet, low resolution videos, a lack of privacy all cause issues. One big thing you need to know about are local porn laws.

Wherever you are in the world, it’s likely that there’ll be some type of rules or regulations around porn. To give you an idea of where in the world it’s easiest and toughest to access pornographic material, we’ve put together this map.

But it’s not always as simple as “yes”, “no”, or “kind of” when it comes to porn laws around the world. We’ve already covered what the rules are in South East Asia and where you can watch porn in Western Europe. Now it’s time to explore Eastern European porn laws.

Before diving into this world of post-communism and sexual liberation, a note about child pornography. All of the countries in this list have laws against pornography or any kind of sexual content involving children – those aged under 18 years old. We’re not going to note for each country, so take it as given that there is no place for child porn in this list or on this website.

Porn Laws in Eastern Europe – What you need to know

Albania

Keeping it pretty simple with the first country on the list – in Albania porn is illegal to consume for all people under 18. You’ll get into trouble if you

• Produce
• Deliver
• Advertise
• Import
• Sell
• Publish

Pornographic material that involves minors.

Belarus

Nearly the exact opposite to the previous country, pornography is outright banned in Belarus. You could find yourself in prison for up to four years for making, distributing, or even intending to give someone else porn.

Enforcement of the laws can be tight, with regular raids and searches of the phones of children. Not a country you’d want to end up in prison in, either.

Bulgaria

Back in the days of communism and the Iron Curtain, porn wasn’t easy to get your hands on in Bulgaria. Even after the fall or dictatorship, the porn laws are pretty strict in Bulgaria – you still can’t produce or distribute porn without the chance of up to a couple of years in prison.

That being said, you can access and own porn. There are designated shops in the country where you can get your mitts on products of the skin industry.

Croatia

In Croatia, generally pornography is legal with hardcore porn restricted to the over 18s. Even if you accidentally show porn to a child, you face up to a year in prison. In the era of kids borrowing smartphones, be careful what you save on your browser history.

Cyprus

Cyprus has strict porn laws for child pornography with recent high profile convictions. Generally, porn is legal, but it can only be sold to anyone over the age of 18.

Czechia

Whilst a communist country, porn laws were strict and sex tapes weren’t easy to access. Things have done a complete flip now, and Czechia is a leading country in terms of pornography production in Europe with lots of studios in Prague.

The industry does have some light regulation. Bestiality in porn is illegal, along with being disrespectful to any of the actors.

Estonia

Legalised after communism, you can now watch porn legally in Estonia. Whilst normal porn is perfectly acceptable, Estonia has recently been classified as high-risk in terms of child pornography as well as child prostitution and trafficking. It’s worth being cautious with any content from Estonia because of these risks.

Hungary

As with other former Soviet-bloc nations, porn used to be highly illegal back in the day. Hungary quickly liberalised when it became a democracy again. The porn industry in Hungary is thriving and is one of the centres of porn production in Eastern Europe. You’ll find plenty of porn performers who are from Hungary, as well as quite a few directors.

Latvia

In Latvia, their porn laws make porn legal, but you’re not allowed to advertise it. Revenge porn is also banned – you need the permission of everyone included in the filming. The industry is regulated and you can even make a porno in a public place as long as you have permission and kids can’t get there.

Lithuania

Unlike its liberal neighbour, in Lithuania pornography is illegal. That’s not just child pornography, any type of porn is banned to access, own, sell, or make. There’s a 12-month prison sentence up for grabs if you decide to violate the law, so best not, eh?

Unlike its liberal neighbour, in Lithuania pornography is illegal. That’s not just child pornography, any type of porn is banned to access, own, sell, or make. There’s a 12-month prison sentence up for grabs if you decide to violate the law, so best not, eh?

Poland

Back in 1998, porn laws were liberalised and filming sex became legal. It wasn’t too long after, and often since, that politicians have tried to ban access to porn in the country. To date, there hasn’t been success and the major restriction to know about is that you can’t show porn to anyone under the age of 15 – although we’d still counsel not involving anyone under 18 with the porn industry at all.

Romania

You can legally access porn on Romania, it’s actually pretty easy to get hold of. Before the advent of the internet, it was commonly sold at news stands and boobs and other “offensive” bits were covered over with red squares. Porn is available on TV, but the channels are encrypted since you’ve got to be over 18 to access it.

Russia

Let’s not start an argument, for our purposes we’re going to class Russia as Europe, mainly because it feels like it fits there culturally. However, in terms of porn it’s definitely more extreme in its regulation.

First off, if you’re caught making porn you can be in line for a prison sentence of 2-6 years. It’s not just producing it that’s a problem, the government puts in a fair amount of effort stopping Russians accessing porn and blocks websites.

In 2015, this activity went all out with a mass banning of porn sites. It wasn’t announced beforehand and was confusing for many at the time. From reports, new sites do get added to the list and accessing porn is still troublesome in Russia.

Serbia

A little more sedate that the rules in Russia, Serbian porn laws are simple and easy to understand. You can make and access porn without a problem. You do need to be over 18 years old though.

Slovakia

In Slovakia, or the Slovak Republic, pornography is illegal. When the country entered the EU, it also introduced the obligatory child pornography laws.

Slovenia

Along with some of its more liberal counterparts, after the fall of communism, pornography became legal. The laws in the country only prohibit porn for anyone under the age of 15, but as we noted a little earlier, it’s still best to stick to international standards and not involve anyone under 18 in anything to do with porn.

Turkey

Another controversial one just by having it as part of Europe. We might be writing about porn laws, but we make the rules here and at least some of Turkey is in Europe and that’s good enough for us.

Theoretically, pornography is legal to access and produce in Turkey. Their industry was reasonably famous in the 1990s for producing comedy porn. There is a clause in the law on porn that – as well as banning the standard rape, bestiality, necrophilia – prohibits “unnatural acts” which has been interpreted legally to cover oral and anal sex.

Back in 2007 the government decided to ban online porn altogether. You may be able to find ways to access it, but be careful who’s looking over your shoulder.

Ukraine

Propping up our list right at the bottom is Ukraine. With the curious exception of “medicinal purposes”, pornography was banned across Ukraine in a law passed in June 2009. Three years in prison awaits anyone who violated the law, and it’s rather strictly enforced, too.

Porn laws in Eastern Europe

It’s pretty mixed bag in countries that sit to the eastern side of the European continent. Countries that landed in the Warsaw Pact and were satellite states of the USSR all had porn laws that banned any type of pornography during that period in history.

Those same countries have since been able to formulate their own laws. Some have come down on the side of sexual liberation and have even developed profitable industries, whilst others are still culturally conservative.

Don’t take any of this as legal advice and always check the laws of the countries you’re in to be sure you’re not going to land up in jail.