MINSK, 2 April (BelTA) – Members of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly have given the first reading to the bill on amending laws on mass media, BelTA has learned.
The bill is designed to ensure the constitutional right of citizens to full and reliable information, protect state and public interests in the area of mass media, national security, and information sphere.
As he presented the bill, Belarusian Information Minister Igor Lutsky said: “Internet has become a leading source of information since a lot of people can easily access it. Today's virtual environment is a most powerful factor influencing the population. The information being spread over the Internet does not always contribute to the development of the society and the state. Internet has become a tool of information wars aimed at destroying societal foundations and moral values and at times entire countries. This is why a number of innovations the bill specifies are meant to regulate legal relations in the Internet space.”
In particular, the bill provides for more specific requirements for the founder and the editor-in-chief of a mass medium. The bill suggests expanding obligations of the legal person that acts as the editorial board of the mass medium, obligations of owners of Internet resources and Internet publications. The bill suggests more specific authority of mass media reporters. The document also specifies reasons for stripping a mass medium reporter of accreditation. The document also stipulates when the failure to discharge reporter's duties will be treated as a blatant violation of the reporter's official duties.
The document suggests more clearly defining the procedure for amending the state registry of mass media, elaborating the use of links (hyperlinks) to a mass medium, an Internet resource, or a news agency. The bill provides for expanding the list of types of information, which dissemination is prohibited. Measures are stipulated to curb foreign influence on the information market. The existing preference that applies to mass media, in which charter capital the share of foreign investments exceeds 20%, will be scrapped.
The bill expands the list of reasons for denying state registration or re-registration to a mass medium as well as the list of reasons for restricting access to an Internet resource or a network mass medium. The prosecutor general, prosecutors of the oblasts and the city of Minsk will be empowered to restrict access to an Internet resource or a network mass medium if the Internet resource or the network mass medium spread information to advocate extremist activities and other kinds of information able to harm Belarus' national interests.
Deputy Chairwoman of the Human Rights, National Relations, and Mass Media Commission Lilia Ananich said: “In essence we live in conditions of an information war. It is necessary to use the entire arsenal of legal tools to secure national priorities in the development of the national information space. The suggested changes are designed to protect from illegal information impact and manipulation of the mass consciousness, to promptly and adequately respond to external and internal information threats. Society consolidation has never been more important. The work of Belarusian mass media and Internet resources for the benefit of their country instead of political machinations and destructive external designs is as important.”
