The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today joined its European group, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in urging the Ukrainian Parliament to strike out the bill on the protection of "public morals" which represents a serious threat to press freedom.

The Ukrainian Parliament is poised to debate a bill on the protection of public morals which journalists fear will allow the authorities to intimidate journalists under the cloak of protecting morality. The bill gives that the National Commission of Ukraine for Protection of Public Morals the power to shut down, without a court order, any media outlet it deems to have violated public morals.

"This draft law is a way to muzzle or to push journalists to self-censorship," said EFJ President Arne König. "The Ukrainian authorities refer to values imposed unilaterally on media in order to control the content and to threaten journalists with disproportionate measures. The EFJ is extremely worried over this law proposal that might lead to the same situation as in Hungary, where also a governmental body from unclear criteria can impose severe punishment on the media."

The Ukrainian Parliament is due to debate in the second reading the draft law on "Protection of Public Morals. The bill was passed in the first reading on 14 October when the Parliament adopted a draft text proposing the creation of a single and powerful regulatory body, the National Commission of Ukraine for Protection of Public Morals, which will have powers to close any printed or electronic mass media on the grounds of the yet undefined "public morals".

Ukrainian media and journalists' union are opposed to this text, saying it contains serious flaws such as the unclear definition of "public morals", the disproportionate powers to close down media outlets as well as the unclear legal procedure foreseen by the draft law. Under the bill, printed media may be closed, electronic media can lose their license and access to websites may be cut for alleged promotion of "war, terrorism, other manifestations of criminal activity", "ukrainophobia", "humiliation or offence to the nation or personality on national grounds" or "disrespect for national and religious shrines".

Moreover, this new supervisory body will have powers to take measures against media without proper judicial supervision or any preliminary assessment of these "morals".

The IFJ warns that the draft law puts press freedom in jeopardy as the discourse of public interest issues in media will be stifled out of fear of breaching ‘ public morals' and the swift sanctions of the Commission. The Federation supports the EFJ criticism that arbitrary powers given to political supervisory bodies represent a serious threat to free press. The EFJ says that several countries of the CIS, but also recently Hungary in the EU, have resorted to control of media which they attempt to disguise as the protection of "morals" or "national values".

"This draft legislation leaves press freedom in the balance and suggests that Ukrainian authorities are pursuing less than high minded intentions of gagging media," added Jim Boumelha, IFJ President. "We urge Parliament to strike this bill out and work with the media in exposing prejudice and hatred. Journalists should be left to police their profession through self -regulation and existing civil laws can address any press offences."

For more information, please contact IFJ on + 32 2 235 22 07
The IFJ represents more than 600.000 journalists in 131 countries