Draft bill #11321 of June 5, 2024
Cosponsors: 19 MPs from the Holos, Servant of the People, and European Solidarity factions with Yaroslav Yurchyshyn as the first signatory
Status: adopted in full
Who is affected: courts, media, journalists, and media workers accredited by the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Summary:
- media will not be responsible for inaccurate quoting of officials
- if a court rules that a media piece violates the Law on Media, the media that published the piece will have the following options:
- remove the comment within three days after receiving the court’s decision and avoid liability
- keep the comment and defend it in court
- journalists will be able to freely visit government buildings, attend open events, and meet with officials to get information
- the procedure for accessing the committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be updated:
- the agenda of all committee meetings will be published 24 hours prior to the meeting
- a recording of the meeting will be published within 24 hours
- journalists, media workers, and representatives of NGOs will be able to address any committee and join its meeting
- journalists and media workers already accredited by the Verkhovna Rada will not need additional accreditation to participate in committee meetings.
What is right:
- the permission to join in person or obtain a video recording of committee meetings will ensure greater transparency in committees’ work, balancing security considerations and democratic principles
- journalists will be able to freely quote official sources without the risk of punishment for spreading false information
- media will have the right to independently decide how to handle problematic content: to remove it or defend it in court. This will allow for consideration of the specific circumstances of each case.
Additional information:
- column by Oksana Zabolotna: Closed Rada: why the Parliament should return the proper level of transparency as soon as possible