President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has signed into law legislation significantly expanding the government’s regulatory power over the media, a measure that journalists have warned could erode press freedom.
Mr. Zelensky, whose government has been criticized for undermining press freedomordered the drafting of legislation to increase media regulation in 2019.
The measure was passed by the Parliament of Ukraine in the first day of this month along with a host of other bills that lawmakers say are intended to help the country meet European Union requirements. legislative conditions for members. The bills include measures to protect the rights of ethnic minority. Mr. Zelensky signed into law the bill on media regulation on Thursday, Ukrainian media report.
The media regulation bill expands the authority of Ukraine’s state broadcasting regulator, the National Radio and Television Council, to cover print and online media. . It gives the regulator the power to fine media outlets, revoke their licenses, temporarily block certain online media outlets without a court order and demand social media platforms and search giants like Google remove content that breaks the law, Ukrainian media reported.
But Ukrainian journalists have said that the new media regulation goes beyond what the European Union requires. They accused the government use membership obligations as an excuse to gain greater control over the press.
The media bill was also criticized internationally when it was passed by Parliament. In July, the general secretary of Federation of European Journalists, Ricardo Gutiérrez, called the bill’s provision “coercive” and “worthy of the worst dictatorships.” The Committee to Protect JournalistsA nonprofit group that fights for press freedom around the world, has called on Ukrainian lawmakers to drop the bill in September, saying it tightens “government control over information in when citizens need it most.”
National Union of Journalists of Ukraine warns in a statement before a parliamentary vote that the bill would help erode freedoms that “distinguish Ukraine’s social system from the Russian dictatorship.”
But the deputy chair of the Parliament’s information policy committee, Yevheniia Kravchuk, denied allegations that supporters had used EU requests to cover up efforts to curb press freedoms, arguing that Far-reaching changes to Ukraine’s media law are long overdue.
“Of course, this bill is even broader than the EU directive, because we need to change and modernize our media law, which has not been changed in 16 years,” she said. in a statement after the bill is passed. “It was passed when there was no internet.”
