AC President: The suspension of the broadcast licence for the six stations is a necessary action to secure the information space
The decision to suspend the broadcast licence of the six television stations from the Republic of Moldova was based on several cumulative factors, among which, in particular, non-compliance with the provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Code, the president of the Audiovisual Council (AC), Liliana Vițu, told a press conference.
The targeted television stations have repeatedly admitted violations, and during the year several sanctions were applied to them, both for the lack of correct information and for the propagation of the war, explained the president of the Audiovisual Council, Liliana Vițu.
"This fact denotes a constant defiance of the rules in the audiovisual field. Prior to the start of the war, four stations out of the six targeted were actively broadcasting Russian newscasts that represented an informational attack on Ukraine and an informational preparation for its invasion. In the early days of the aggression, these stations stopped rebroadcasting news programs from Russia, but adopted the tactic of manipulation by omission. That is, they chose to remain silent about the war. All these stations do not comply with the provisions of the Code regarding the amount of local content they must produce. Not only the violations reported by the CA were the basis of the CSE provision, but also the information about the control exercised by the internationally sanctioned persons over some of these television stations," said Liliana Vițu.
Liliana Vițu specified that the suspension of the broadcast license for the six TV stations does not represent a fight against minorities in our country, but a necessary action to secure the information space.
Previously, the television stations that were left without a broadcast license categorized the CSE's decision as an attack on freedom of expression, considering it unjustified. The television station RTR Moldova announces that it contested the decision of the CSE in court, and says that all programs will be transmitted to another television station.
Radio Moldova recalls that the CSE decided on Friday to suspend the broadcast license of six television stations. The CSE motivated its decision by the fact that several deviations were found regarding the coverage of national events, but also of the war in Ukraine.
