The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 11321, which establishes new rules for online media regarding the moderation of user comments. According to the adopted document, the media will not be held responsible for the dissemination of negative or unreliable comments, provided that complaints are responded to in a timely manner.
The initiator of the document was Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech.
The introduced changes specify the norm of Article 117 of the Law of Ukraine "On Media". From now on, the media will not be responsible for the distribution of user information that:
- contains accusations of corruption or other violations against officials;
- violates the rights and legitimate interests of individuals;
- is considered invalid according to court decisions.
The main condition is the removal of such comments or publications from the discussion sections within three working days from the moment of receipt of the relevant order or resolution.
According to the explanations of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, negative information about a person is considered unreliable, if the author does not provide evidence to the contrary. In particular, this applies to allegations of violations of laws, moral principles, or ethical behavior that may harm a person's reputation.
The law also extends liability for spreading false or prohibited information to journalists working under civil law contracts. At the same time, they are released from responsibility if the information was:
- reproduced verbatim or without distortion from other registered media;
- received in response to official requests;
- published by state bodies or official institutions.
We will remind, the former head of one of the Departments of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, as well as two heads of a state-owned enterprise, were notified of suspicion of misappropriation and embezzlement of property, obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). . In addition, the managers of the state-owned enterprise were also notified of suspicion of official forgery (Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
