The quota of the dominant position in the formation of public opinion was reduced from 35% to 25%. Parliament gave a final reading to relevant amendments to the Code of Audiovisual Media Services, IPN reports.
The bill was drafted by PAS MPs Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei and Marcela Adam. According to the sponsors, the amendments are aimed at optimizing the work of the audiovisual regulatory authority and at limiting the excessive influence of private interests over public life.
The given legislative amendments are stipulated in the plan of measures for limiting the excessive influence of private interests over economic, political and public life (deoligarchization), which was approved by the National Commission for European Integration.
A series of provisions were introduced to facilitate the proper application of the norms concerning the fight against disinformation. The concept of disinformation will be applied with regard to activities aimed at disseminating false information that can affect the interests of the whole society, related to the right to accurate information, as the use of the instrument of disinformation affects not the interests of a person, but the national interests.
The bill also refers to the protection of minors. This way, all the TV programs that can affect the physical, mental or moral development of minors could be broadcast only thigh a conditional access system. It goes to programs with pornographic scenes or scenes of unjustified violence.
Under an amendment proposed by MP Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, who heads the commission on culture, education, research, youth, sport and the media, the media service providers that were already sanctioned once for disseminating content classed as disinformation and do this again will be stripped of the broadcast license for a period of at most seven days or will be banned from using the national multiplex with unconditional access.
