President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law "On media", which allows the authorities to close or suspend the activities of mass media without a court decision.
This is stated on the page of the law on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.
The President signed the law on December 29.
It enters into force 3 months after its publication.
The document introduces regulation by the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of online media, print media and even shared access web platforms (Youtube and social networks). A co-regulation mechanism is also foreseen, but with the participation of the National Council.
In general, the powers of the regulator are significantly expanded, in particular, it will have the right to block and close media without a court decision, including online media.
Also, the law provides for a number of measures to strengthen the information security of the state, which is the reason for the expansion of the powers of the National Council declared by the legislator.
Also, the authors of the bill in the explanatory note emphasize that the bill harmonizes Ukrainian legislation with European norms, but according to the NUJU, such norms occupy only about 10% of the law.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the European Federation of Journalists called on the Ukrainian government to postpone the bill "On media". The bill was also criticized in the OSCE.
The bill on media is not supported by the vast majority of print media editors.
Critical materials about this law were also published by the Western press, in particular The New York Times.
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