The document is needed for Ukraine to join the EU, but certain of its proposals “tighten the nuts” of the media and open a window for Russian propaganda.
The Verkhovna Rada in the first re-reading supported draft law No. 2693-d “On media”. As reported by “Detector Media” with reference to the head of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, the “Servant of the People” deputy Mykyta Poturaev, 233 deputies voted for the document at the meeting on August 30.
As deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak clarified, the draft law was supported by 179 deputies from “Servants of the People”, 6 – from “Batkivshchyna”, 12 – “Platform for Life and Future”, 7 – “For the Future” Party, 12 – “Trust”, 12 – ” Restoration” and 5 non-faction. “European Solidarity” and “Holos” did not vote for the document.
A month ago, on July 27, 2022, deputies made additions to the draft law “On Media”, and on August 23, the Committee on issues of humanitarian and information policy, the majority of votes supported the draft law “On Media”, finalized in the committee.
Now the document should be voted on in the second reading. At the same time, the day before, a number of people's deputies made a statement to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, with a call to withdraw the document from the vote.
Yes, 34 deputies, including representatives of five factions and non-factions, declared the existence of the updated draft of the law “dangers of demining the cultural border with Russia”.
Also, individual provisions of the draft law “On Media” were criticized by the “Repulsion” civil movement. The statement states that some provisions of the law proposed for adoption contain many relaxations for the Russian-language media industry.
Previously, the draft law was seriously criticized by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
The draft law “On Media” was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on December 27, 2019. At the same time, in May 2020 the parliament sent this project for a repeated first reading.
The draft law should replace several current media laws. It proposes to introduce regulation of online media, activities of bloggers and various web platforms, such as Facebook.
The document also provides for expanding the powers of the National Council on television and radio broadcasting.
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The adoption of this law is one of the requirements for Ukraine's accession to the EU.
