Freedom of Speech Committee condemns the pressure on Suspilne

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech unanimously condemned the pressure on Suspilne Broadcasting and called to facilitate its development in accordance with EU standards, announced the Committee's chairman Yaroslav Yurchyshyn.

In his comment to IMI, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn noted that his Committee supported the May 2 statement by the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy and would send it to all officials responsible for information and budget policy on their own behalf.

"Next, the Committee will send a request to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine asking if Suspilne Broadcaster's proposal to speak on Pershiy's separate frequency complies with their decision on guaranteeing information security. Lastle, we are taking this situation under constant Committee control," Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said.

Previously

It was reported on April 25 that the US State Department included the national telethon "United News" in its report on human rights violations in Ukraine in 2023. The report noted that the telethon provided the government with an "unprecedented level of control over primetime television news."

On April 24, deputy Maryana Bezugla made several Facebook posts on the feasibility of funding six state-owned channels, listing Suspilne as a "state-owned" broadcaster, too.

She noted that Suspilne, Dom and FreeDom have a small outreach and "diversify money allocation", and offered to fund just channel instead, namely, Rada or Suspilne.

On April 25, Svitlana Ostapa, the head of the Suspilne Supervisory Board, reported that the government plans to remove Suspilne from the evening slots of the telethon. The Suspilne Supervisory Board came out with a counter-proposal regarding the telethon slot reassignment: to give all primetime slots to Suspilne.

On April 29, Suspilne appealed to the heads of four Verkhovna Rada committees with a request to assess the statements by deputy Maryana Bezuhla and to look into the attempt at putting pressure on the media company and undermining the reform to create an independent broadcaster, which was one of the prerequisites for Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

On April 30, the Media Movement members called to cease pressure on Suspilne and to let the company keep the evening primestime slots in the telethon.

On May 2, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, said that the attack on Suspilne will be perceived by all European pro-reform forces as an attack on freedom of speech and an attempt to smear the journalistic community.

Earlier, the US State Department included the national telethon "United News" in its report on human rights violations in Ukraine in 2023. The report noted that the telethon provided the government with an "unprecedented level of control over primetime television news."