Mediarukh called on the Council not to support draft law No. 10242 – “poses threats to freedom of speech”

Ukrainian Media Movement, media and human rights organizations called on the Verkhovna Rada not to support draft law No. 10242 in its current version, because, according to the authors of the appeal, it “poses significant threats to freedom of speech, work of journalists, protection of journalistic sources and whistleblowers of corruption in Ukraine.”

The draft law strengthens and introduces criminal liability for placing in free access confidential information from public registers or other actions that create the possibility of free access to such information by an unspecified circle of persons.

“Under the guise of fighting against ‘data abuse’, a tool is being created that can be used to persecute journalists who cover corruption schemes or abuse of power,” Mediaruh said in a statement.

Draft Law No. 10242 provides for “amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine to establish criminal liability for unauthorized interference, sale or distribution of information processed in public electronic registers and strengthening criminal liability during martial law for criminal offenses in the use of information and communication systems” . The document was registered in the parliament on November 9, 2023 and is currently being prepared for a repeated second reading.