Since the beginning of 2024, 421 complaints regarding violations of the language law on the Internet have been registered in Ukraine. The Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language reported on the adoption of 161 control measures, the issuance of 49 warnings and the imposition of 16 fines for violations of language norms in the online space.
This was announced by the Secretariat of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language on Facebook.
"Since the beginning of 2024, 421 complaints have been received regarding violations of the language law, which regulates the use of the state language on the Internet (which is almost 50% less than during this period in 2023)," the message reads.
Language ombudsman Taras Kremin noted that a huge number of Internet resources have created a full-fledged Ukrainian version, which is downloaded by default, and have fulfilled all legal requirements within two years of the validity of the relevant law. But, unfortunately, there are those who have not done this yet or for some reason keep the start page in a foreign language.
Therefore, in 2024, according to citizens' complaints, "161 measures of state control were initiated in relation to economic entities, which were successfully established." Most of the Internet resources at the time of the state control measures, according to the report, eliminated violations of the language law. According to the Commissioner, as of September 10, 2024, "49 warnings have already been issued and 16 fines have been imposed" for violating Article 27 of the Language Law (for the lack of a Ukrainian-language version of the site or for loading the site by default in a non-state language).
"Regarding those online representative offices for which it was not possible to establish a business entity, I constantly appeal to the National Police of Ukraine and the State Tax Service of Ukraine to identify the violators and bring them to justice. And they won't get away with just a fine for violating the language legislation. (…) By the way, some of the violators have already received increased fines for repeated violations. The punishment is irreversible!" Kremin emphasized.
On July 16, 2022, the articles of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses entered into force, according to which violation of the requirements of the law regarding the state language on the Internet may be subject to administrative liability with a fine from UAH 3,400 to UAH 5,100 or a warning if the violation is committed for the first time. For a repeated violation within a year - a fine of UAH 8,500-11,900.
