The fears that the Law on Infospace Security can be used as a political weapon are unfounded, says MP Olesea Stamate, chair of Parliament’s Legal Commission. According to her, further secondary legislation will be introduced to prevent any potential abuse.
Stamate believes that securing the information space is “a must of our times”, especially in the context of the security crisis in the region. She says that with the ban on the retransmission of Russian TV channels, there no “information vacuum” will emerge, as alternative media sources will be made available to the public.
"For years, we have had massive propaganda here in Moldova, and this propaganda has left its mark on what is happening in our society. But besides limiting the sources of active propaganda, it is equally important to offer an informational alternative, including to Russian speakers. They are watching these TV channels because there is no quality alternative. That is why we will think about ensuring a credible alternative, which offers objective, equidistant information”, Stamate told a talk show on RliveTV.
According to the bill approved in first reading, the Intelligence and Security Service is authorized to block portals that propagate, misinform or incite hatred. Olesea Stamate says there is no risk that this provision will be used to silence “inconvenient” media.
“Such provisions could have been risky if we had a government of the sort we had before. But with the current government, I do not believe that there is any risk because we have shown more than once that we are a government acting in good faith and we do not want to limit the rights and freedoms of either citizens or the media. But after this law is adopted, the institutional framework should be elaborated with very clear regulations on how, when and who applies sanctions, so that the risks of potential abuses are as low as possible. The law was adopted only as a concept in the first reading. Public consultations will follow”, added Stamate.
The law proposes banning newscasts and analytical content from countries that haven’t ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, such as Russia.
