The MPs of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists blocked the Parliament’s central rostrum after a bill proposed by the Party of Action and Solidarity to impose harsher penalties for disinformation and spreading of fake news by media service providers had been debated in Parliament for about three hours. The BCS MPs harshly criticized the initiative, accusing the government of censorship and dictatorship. After a pause, they announced that they decided to leave the siting in protest IPN.

The bill introduces penalties in the form of fines of up to 100,000 lei for disinformation or information that affects the security of the audiovisual space. It notes that if the same violation is committed again, the provider will be deprived of the right to broadcast for a particular period of time, while the websites that will misinform and spread fake news will be blocked by the Security and Intelligence Service.

The bill sponsors argued that the disinformation and false information represent a challenge to the information security of the Republic of Moldova. In connection with the geopolitical developments and the pandemic situation generated by the novel coronavirus, the phenomenon is expanding and news items that mislead the public intentionally and that have a significant impact on the people’s perception are being spread.

In the debates, Șor Party MP Marina Tauber said the goal of this bill is evident. It is not to protect information security, as the authors claim, but to impose censorship on social media and to shut up the inconvenient media that is not loyal to the government. “The freedom of opinion and expression is guaranteed by the Constitution. It is a right we won with difficulty and too late and any attempt to suppress this freedom is a crime,” said the MP.

BSC MP Adela Răileanu in her speech said that PAS pursues the small steps policy that leads to a police state without opposition thinking and without an alternative opinion. “There is no doubt that the government is decided to strengthen political control over the judiciary and to shut up the critical media outlets,” said the MP, noting that if this bill is adopted, the journalists, civic activists, opposition parties and any free person in the country will become the target of the government when their truth will not coincide with the government’s truth.

BCS MP Vlad Batrîncea urged his colleagues to block the Parliament’s rostrum. PAS proposed taking a break. After Speaker Igor Grosu announced a 30-minute break, Batrîncea said the BCS MPs would leave the sitting in protest at the debated bill.