National Council proposed to form interdepartmental working group to protect media space

The National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting has initiated the forming of a working group on protection of media space. The relevant decision of the national regulator was passed on July 9, as "Media Detector" informed. The regulator proposes to set up a joint working group "to counter anti-Ukrainian activities" as part of the National Council and to include as its members the representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and other government agencies, as the deputy Chairman of the National Council Ulyana Feschuk said. "To enable Ukraine to counter Russian propaganda in a efficacious way, the National Council proposes to create a working group that would prevent anti-Ukrainian actions by other people and authorities, which are non-Ukrainian ones. We are going to write a letter and propose, with the common consent, to include in this working group representatives of the SBU, the National Security and Defense Council, the National Security and Defense Council, and the other bodies of public authorities in order to be able to effectively counteract the challenges in the media field, "she said. According to Feschuk, the National Council supports the initiative of the SBU regarding the convening of the National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions against the TV channels NewsOne and 112 Ukraine in accordance with the Verkhovna Rada resolution dated October 4, 2018, as well as the initiative of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine to institute criminal proceedings under the article "high treason" due to project of joint teleconference between the Ukrainian television channel "NewsOne" and the Russian state television channel "Russia". The National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council is going to hold an unscheduled verification of the NewsOne TV channel (company “News 24 hours”), given the TV channel’s project to hold TV link-up with a Russian television channel “Russia 1”, which is banned in Ukraine. Such a decision has been adopted by the National Council on July 9 at an extraordinary meeting, as Interfax-Ukraine reported. On July 9, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting decided to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada with proposals for amendments to the Law "On Television and Radio Broadcasting" in order to be able to suspend and cancel licenses in certain cases "to prevent anti-Ukrainian activities". On July 9^th, the National council has decided to appeal to the Parliament asking to amend the law “On television and radio broadcasting” in order to have possibility in some occasions to suspend or cancel the broadcast licenses to prevent anti-Ukrainian propaganda, without appealing to the court.