The so-called law on the fight against disinformation is related to the sovereign decision of the Parliament, the presidential administration of the Republic of Moldova and it was necessary for combating disinformation, President Maia Sandu stated when asked by the press to comment on the statements of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The latter said that “by this law the Moldovan authorities try to annul what’s Russian, as Ukraine does”, IPN reports.

“We did this and will continue to do so as to ensure an objective information space for our citizens to be able to analyze things based on objective information, not on propaganda and fake news sources,” stated Maia Sandu.

The law on information security that bans news bulletins and features produced in countries that didn’t ratify the European Convention on Transfrontier Television was promulgated by President Maia Sandu. This way, the media outlets that disinform will face gradual punishment in the form of fine up to the withdrawal of the right to broadcast advertisements. In accordance with the law, the programs produced by the EU, the U.S. and the countries that ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television will represent 50% of the foreign content broadcast by TV channels in Moldova. The parliamentary opposition described the new provisions as censorship.