Under the state of emergency approved by Parliament, the Intelligence and Security Service (ISS) is once again responsible for monitoring online content promoting false information about the energy sector affecting state security. The provision was included in the first provision of this year’s Commission for Exceptional Situations, issued on January 20.

According to the document, the ISS will approve by order and make public the list of online content promoting false energy news, and network and/or electronic communication service providers will be obliged under this order to block access to such sources.

In the autumn of 2021, ISS had under the information published by online portals on the topic of energy crisis under a microscope, and in the spring – about Covid-19. In total, since the declaration of the exceptional energy state, from October 22 to November 20, 2021, ISS has requested the blocking of the content of five websites.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Press, Teresa Ribeiro, has recommended that the Moldovan authorities review the amendments to the Audiovisual Media Services Code that brought Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) back under parliamentary control and established a new accountability mechanism for the Broadcasting Council (BC), according to an OSCE press release.

The legal analysis on the law amending the Audiovisual Media Services Code, carried out by independent expert Joan Barata on behalf of the OSCE Office for Freedom of the Press, was presented by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on January 14, 2022. The study focuses on assessing the law’s compliance with international standards on human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of the press and with key OSCE human dimension commitments.

Among other things, it recommends the repeal of amendments that subject the TRM Director General to political election by Parliament, including decisions on his appointment, performance evaluation and dismissal. “Parliamentary scrutiny replaces the scrutiny of these matters previously carried out by the TRM’s Supervisory and Development Board,” the document says.

The OSCE expert also recommends “enhancing guarantees that the process of appointing and electing members of the TRM Supervisory and Development Council (SDC) is conducted in a transparent and fair manner, including by avoiding final decisions in this area being taken by the incumbent parliamentary majority.”

As regards the appointment and possible dismissal of members of the BC, the authors of the study consider that these “are essentially identical to those applicable to the TRM’s governing body and should therefore also be repealed.”

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has awarded the Order of Honour to Oana Serafim, director of the Romanian-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertatea, who will soon end her term in this position, according to a presidential press release. The announcement was made at a meeting on January 10.

Oana Serafim received the award as a token of high appreciation for her work in ensuring fair and equitable information to the public and for her constant support and promotion of democratic values in our country over the years.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) received 630 applications against Moldova last year, three times the European average, according to an analysis of Moldovan cases at the ECHR released by the Moldovan Legal Resources Centre (MJRC).

According to the study, in 2021, the ECtHR handed down 68 judgments in Moldovan cases, with Moldova ranking fifth among the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe. 69 violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were found in the judgments, two of which concern freedom of expression.

In a October 12, 2021 decision in the case of RISE Moldova and Iurie Sanduta v. Republic of Moldova, the Strasbourg Court condemned the Republic of Moldova for violating the freedom of expression. The journalistic investigation, published in September 2016 by Rise Moldova, concerned a transaction through offshore zones involving the company Exclusiv Media, managed by socialist MP Corneliu Furculita.

In another case, on November 30, 2021, the ECtHR issued its judgment in the case of Matasaru v. Republic of Moldova, finding a violation of the right to freedom of expression and the right to liberty and security of activist Anatol Matasaru, who organized a protest action in front of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in 2016.

From the ratification of the Convention in 1997 until December 31, 2021, the ECtHR has delivered 541 judgments in Moldovan cases. In 461 of these cases, at least one violation of the Convention was found to have been committed by our State.

After the NTV Moldova administration informed the BC in mid-December 2021 that it was stopping retransmission of news and analytical TV programs produced in the Russian Federation, the station announced on January 25 that it would continue to broadcast these programs. The information was confirmed to Media Azi by the president of the BC, Liliana Vitu.

In December 2020, the Parliament annulled the provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Code allowing the retransmission of news-analytical and military broadcasts only from countries that have ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, the USA and Canada. Thus, broadcasts from the Russian Federation, which for a time were banned from broadcasting in the country, have returned to Moldovan small screens. Russia is among the countries that have signed but not ratified the convention.

Insufficient number of sign language translators and their limited presence on TV screens are the most pressing problems faced by people with hearing disabilities in accessing information. The topic was discussed during an online roundtable organized by the INFONET Alliance in partnership with the Association of the Deaf of Moldova.

During the discussion, the Vice-President of the Society of the Deaf of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Babici, the President of the Deaf Society’s veterans’ organization, Olga Korjan, the Executive Director of the INFONET Association, Victor Koroli informed about the problems faced by people with disabilities in the Republic of Moldova. Currently there are only 17 registered sign language translators, three of whom are abroad, and only 12 de facto specialists. “One translator is responsible for around 300 people with disabilities,” said Natalia Babici. One of the most serious problems, she says, is the lack of training for staff who could study and then teach sign language.

Translator Alla Bargan spoke about her own experience in this field and confirmed that there are serious problems in this area.

According to Victor Koroli, the topics will be discussed with decision-makers from the Broadcasting Council and the Parliamentary Media Commission, representatives of the media and other stakeholders. The INFONET association he leads will develop a guide on informing people with special needs, which can also be used by media employees.

A new niche TV channel is expected to launch in the near future – WE SPORT TV. The Moldovan Football Federation (MFF) was granted a nine-year broadcasting license at the January 12 meeting of the Broadcasting Council.

The station is to broadcast its programs via the country’s service distributors’ networks in the thematic format, i.e., sport. According to the editorial draft, the management of the TV channel aims to produce 95% of its own production and 5% of promo, advertising, and teleshopping.

Alexandru Grecu, MFF representative and the person responsible for the media project, mentioned that the TV channel will be supported by the association’s partners, such as FIFA (International Football Federation) and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations). “We are going to establish with them the split budget for this project according to the programs we will make in the future,” said Alexandru Grecu.

In the first meeting of the new year, members of the BC sanctioned Publika TV for not respecting the privacy of minors in a news report and ITV for incorrect use of its logo. The BC was alerted by a non-governmental organization and a private company.

The National Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse (CNPAC) referred to the BC regarding a December 14 news report by Publika TV on two young girls who were “victims of abusive, including sexual, and negligent actions by their fathers.” The NGO claims that the journalists had disseminated personal data of the vulnerable girls in the material and called for the TV station to be sanctioned and for the news to be removed from the TV station’s website archive.

Monitoring by the BC confirmed the allegations made in the complaint. The BC members decided by majority vote to sanction Publika TV with a public warning for violation of the article on the protection of minors.

At the same meeting, ITV was fined 5,000 lei (250 euro) “for the violation of the provisions of the broadcasting license.” The complaint was lodged by Media Content Distribution, which informed the BC that in October 2021, instead of using an official Channel 5 logo, ITV had used a similar but different logo.

ITV representatives claim to have informed the BC of this. However, according to the BC, the station submitted this information after it had been notified and the results of the monitoring confirmed this.

On January 4, the BC monitored the main news bulletins of national audiovisual media service providers in Moldova on how they covered the fight that took place at a nightclub in Chisinau.

A total of 13 national media service providers were targeted: Moldova 1, Moldova 2, Publika TV, Prime, Primul in Moldova, TVR Moldova, TV6, Canal 2, Canal 3, TV8, NTV Moldova, Jurnal TV and Pro TV Chisinau. According to the BC monitoring report, the subject was covered by TV8, TV6, Pro TV Chisinau, Canal 2, Canal 3, Prime and Publika TV. The monitoring showed that TV8 correctly processed images and sounds, while on TV6, “the violent actions of the aggressor can be observed.” Pro TV Chisinau, “broadcast video footage showing the victim being repeatedly kicked while sitting on the stairs of the premises, trying to cover herself with her hands, and the images are accompanied by cries of distress from the victim.” In reports on Channel 2, Channel 3, Prime and Publika TV it was found that the image of the victim was also technically processed, but the assailant’s actions are not processed in the same way. Moreover, the video footage was broadcast repeatedly, and the TV stations aired the same footage on another day.

Following the debates, the members of the BC decided to sanction Pro TV Chisinau and Canal 3 with 15,000 lei (750 euro) each, and TV6, Canal 2, Prime and Publika TV with 10,000 lei (500 euro) each. The maximum fines were imposed on the two broadcasters for repeated infringements in the same area.

On January 4, in a nightclub in the Ciocana sector of the capital, according to the police, a 30-year-old man was beaten and taken to hospital for medical care. The assailant, a Tiktoker from Chisinau, has been identified and a criminal case has been opened.