State duma debates bill to ban ‘biased’ journalism

Russia’s State Duma is debating a bill tabled by the Communist Party to introduce fines for journalists who present “non-objective” views of events. The authors of the bill are calling for increased accountability in the media, with journalists who present one-sided accounts of current affairs to be subject to hefty fines. If the bill is passed, law-breakers would face fines of 30,000 roubles ($845) for local publications, 50,000 roubles ($1,407) for regional media and 100,000 roubles ($2,818) for media outlets with national reach.

A Communist Party spokesman told newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta: “When something is presented in a biased way and contains facts which are completely taken out of context, it can be regarded as false coverage of events.”

According to Vadim Solovyоv, the head of the Communist Party’s legal service, the bill would have the greatest impact on regional media. He said: “Unlike national publications, which are monitored by the daily law-enforcements agencies, reports from local and regional media are neglected, but they are the most popular among the population.”

Experts have said that the new law would give the government greater scope to strengthen its control over information transmitted by the media. Ilya Shablinsky, a member of Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council, has expressed concern over the bill, noting that Russia’s current media laws, which ban the spread of rumours and the incitement of hatred, already prohibit journalists from abusing their status.

Shablinky told Nezavisimaya Gazeta: “The Communist Party’s proposal contradicts the current laws, inasmuch as today there isn’t a criteria which would allow us to differentiate between lies and the truth. In my opinion, it is an attempt to introduce political unanimity — a measure to create a single ideology — because only then can you have clear criteria of what is true and what is false information.”