Zelensky signs a media law criticized by the Union of Journalists for threatening freedom of expression

Today’s latest news about the Ukrainian-Russian war

Dec. 29 () –

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky signed a media law on Thursday that was criticized in December by the Union of Journalists of Ukraine for threatening freedom of expression and hardening the journalistic dissemination of Russian “propaganda”.

The measure, approved in December in the Ukrainian Parliament with 299 votes in favor, contemplates the prohibition of information disseminated through the media that calls for or justifies changing the constitutional order, as well as calling for a conflict that violates territorial integrity. from Ukraine.

This new legislation, which expands the powers of the National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council, was rejected by the Union of Journalists of Ukraine, which claimed that freedom of expression in the country was beginning to be “threatened”.

“Journalists or other media workers who rightly criticize the law were not invited to any meetings. The meetings themselves were held in a non-transparent manner, without public transmission,” he said in a statement on December 13. posted on their website.

He also alluded to the fact that this new legislation introduces “censorship tools.” “An important value that Ukrainians defend today is freedom of expression and the right of every person and citizen to receive truthful, impartial and objective information about what is happening in and around Ukraine,” he stressed.

The law determines that information containing propaganda of the “Russian totalitarian regime” may not be published, as well as symbols associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as reported by the Ukrinform news agency.

The controversial measure also determines the prohibition of disseminating information that ensures that the Ukrainian war is an internal or civil conflict, at the same time that it establishes a veto against programs, except informative, in which people included in Ukraine’s ‘blacklist’ appear. .

In case of breaking the law, the Ukrainian authorities contemplate fines, cancellation of registration or a ban on publishing and distributing information, both in print and digital media, according to various Ukrainian media.