The pro-European government starts the fight against propaganda and disinformation. A bill on the counteracting of these phenomena is on the table of the MPs already. Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu said the initiative will be soon proposed for public consultations. According to him, the legislative proposal introduces gradual penalties for the media outlets that disseminate fake news, manipulate and do not ensure the pluralism of opinions, IPN reports.

The Speaker noted that the adoption of a law that introduces penalties for the media that misinform is imperative in the context of the tense situation in Ukraine. The initiative introduces gradual penalties, up to the closure of the media outlet.

“We will swiftly propose this bill. We already have a draft bill. We intend to all sit down and discuss so as to make sure that there is agreement on what this law should address. We have two situations in which this law should combat propaganda and fake news. The bill stipulates penalties and the definitions of these phenomena, how they affect national security. The current legal framework lacks particular elements and we have to make reference to something that is not stipulated by law,” Igor Grosu stated in the talk show “Black Box” on TV8 channel.

The Speaker said the new anti-propaganda law will also refer to the online environment and will specify how the mass media should behave during a state of emergency in the energy sector, a public health emergency or other emergencies.

“This bill will refer to those who disseminate propaganda and manipulate. The penalties will be gradual. After we finish the consultations at internal level, we will analyze the opinions of journalists on the issue. The bill will cover those who now broadcast news, but haven’t been monitored until now, including different websites. Online propaganda will also be regulated,” stated Igor Grosu.

Under the rule of the Democratic Party, there was adopted a law on the protection of the information space. The document banned the broadcasting of news and analytical, political and military programs from states that didn’t ratify the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, such as the Russian Federation. This anti-propaganda law was later abrogated by the former tacit PSRM-Șor parliamentary majority.