Today, May 27, Interior Minister Sandis Ģirģens submitted amendment proposals prepared for the Saeima faction of the political party “KPV LV” in two laws – the Law on the press and other mass media and the Law “Electronic Media Law” - to promote the fight against fake news in Latvia. The amendments have been drawn up as a result of the working group convened by the Minister for the Interior at the beginning of the spring, following which the authorities involved made their proposals.
"The distribution of disinformation is the one of the main threats in Latvia's information room, which is also a matter of national security. Disinformation not only directly interferes with the psychological resilience of society in the face of the various challenges we see during Covid-19, but also interferes in the democratic processes of society, compromising their legitimate outcome. Of course, it should also be ensured that the framework for combating fake news does not limit the fundamental right of people to freedom of expression at the same time,” Minister of Interior Sandis Girgen says.
The definition of disinformation is not well defined in most countries, but the European Commission, in its joint communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, states that “with disinformation, verifiable false or misleading information which is produced, published and disseminated for economic benefit or to mislead the public can be understood, and to cause harm to society. Damage to society can be caused, among other things, by threats to democratic processes as well as to public good'.
Although the first of the objectives of the Electronic Media Law aims to ensure freedom of expression and opinion, universal access to socially important information and the smooth maintenance and development of a free, democratic debate, by giving each Latvian citizen the opportunity to make an independent opinion on the ongoing processes in the country, thereby facilitating his or her participation as a member of a democratic society with these processes. However, the law did not provide sufficient effective tools to ensure that the dissemination of disinformation in the information room would not affect the achievement of this objective. The law therefore needs to extend the conditions under which the National Electronic Media Council has the right to cancel a broadcasting permit or a retransmission permit in cases where the recipient of the authorisation distributes false, misleading or distorted information. It is also possible to extend the list of conditions provided for by the law to which the distribution of on-demand electronic media services by another Member State of the European Union or the State of the European Economic Area may be prohibited and the restrictions on the delivery of electronic media programmes and broadcasts.
In addition, given that freedom of expression does not include the right to publish and disseminate false, misleading and distorted information, and in order to limit the possibilities of disseminating disinformation in the public and to increase the responsibility of the publishers for the content to be published, it is necessary to extend the list of the conditions under which the judgment of the Court should be followed accordingly. a court proposed by the Prosecutor General may take a decision regarding the termination of the operation of a mass media.
Prepared by:
Beata Jonite
Minister of the Interior Councillor for Communications.
Mob.: 28351588
E-mail: beata.jonite@iem.gov.lv