June 4, 2015, the Law of Ukraine comes into force, reinforcing measures for protecting information space of the country.
According to this document, TV channels broadcasting TV content, forbidden to show in the country, will be imposed with penalties (10 minimum wages or UAH 12 000 for the first time, and 50 minimum wages or UAH 60 000 for the next following).
The compliance with that law will be monitored by the National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council, and the appropriate measures will be taken by the State Film Agency.
The document states exactly the film products forbidden to broadcast in Ukraine. These are movies, which positively feature Soviet national security personnel and the employees of the state, recognized as aggressor, who interpret the seizure of the Ukrainian territory as the legitimate one. There are also forbidden movies produced after August 1991 and promoting the national authorities of the aggressor state. In addition, there are forbidden to show in the country all movies screened by the aggressor state’s citizens after the beginning of 2014. Actually they won’t be able to obtain a release certificate from the State Film Agency.
According to Vladislav Sevryukov, the National Council’s spokesman, the inspections of channels, aimed to detect law violations, started before this law’s entry into force. There were TV channels like Inter, ICTV, Ukraina, NTN and TET among the violators. Those TV channels were officially notified about the identified violations and about the requirement to harmonize their broadcasting with the applicable legislation.
