The Liberal Party (PL) warns about the amendments proposed to the Broadcasting Code. Liberal MP Corina Fusu told a news conference that by these changes, the PLDM-PDM-PCRM coalition, which she called monstrous, wants to institute censorship in the mass media. According to the lawmaker, the bill was submitted to the commissions for examination very swiftly, while the MPs were asked to state their opinions on it without even seeing its content, IPN reports.
Corinei Fusu noted that on the pretext of protecting the media sector from foreign propaganda, the ruling coalition pursues in fact different goals by the amendments proposed to the Broadcasting Code. The gravest provision is the one saying that the participants in talk shows will have to prove each statement denigrating somebody. The hosts of the talk shows will have to stop the discussion or the TV/radio station will be penalized. Also, any statement and information must have an identifiable source. This amendment violates the international right not to reveal the identity of sources.
Corina Fusu also said that this bill bans the public broadcasters from airing commercial advertisements. They will be able to broadcast only social and electoral ads. This way, the national TV channel Moldova 1 will be deprived of incomes of about 1 million lei and will thus always be dependent on allocations from the budget, respectively on the country’s administration.
The Liberal MPs suggested that the bill to amend the Broadcasting Code should be appraised by the Media Division of the Council of Europe and by the OSCE.
The Liberal-Democratic and Democratic MPs registered a bill to amend the Broadcasting Code whose major goal is to protect the national broadcasting sector and to ensure the information security of Moldova. The bill strengthens the Broadcasting Coordination Council’s powers to ensure the information security of the state by preventing deviations that can endanger the national security and Moldova’s existence. It also bans external propaganda by news and political programs, increases the share of national products and of products broadcast in the official language and bans the public broadcasters from airing commercial advertisements.
