December 30, 2022
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Dec. 29 signed into law a controversial bill on the media.
The Ukrainian authorities argued that the law aims to bring Ukrainian legislation in line with EU law and fight Russian propaganda.
Media reform is one of the EU’s conditions for starting negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. The EU wanted Ukraine to adopt legislation to fight the influence of vested interests on the media.
However, the bill has been criticized by journalist organizations as an attempt to introduce censorship. The authorities have denied the accusation.
The law dramatically expands the media regulator’s powers and gives it the authority to shut down news sites that are not officially registered as media without a court ruling.
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