|
Hot Media Sector News
Code of Practice against Disinformation: European Commission Recognizes Platforms' Efforts ahead of the European Elections
May 17 – The European Commission published a report on the progress made as of April 2019 by Facebook, Google and Twitter in their fight against online disinformation. The three platforms are signatories to the Code of Practice against Disinformation; they have committed to report monthly on the measures they have taken to combat false or misleading content ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2019.
The main outcomes of the reports were:
- Google reported on additional measures taken to improve scrutiny of ad placements in EU countries, including a breakdown per member state. It promoted use of the EU Transparency Report on political advertising, the EU’s searchable ad library, and the Google Cloud Big Query application programming interface to run customised queries. Google reported on its ongoing efforts to provide more transparency around issue-based advertising but announced that a permanent solution would not be in place prior to the European elections. Google reported on the removal of a significant number of YouTube channels for violation of Google’s policies on spam, deceptive practices, and impersonation.
- Facebook reported on measures it has taken against ads that violate Facebook’s ban on low quality, disruptive, misleading or false content. Facebook started to enforce its policy on political and issue-based advertising in mid-April by removing non-compliant ads from Facebook and Instagram.
- Twitter reported on ads it rejected for not complying with its policies regarding unacceptable business practices and low-quality ads. It reported on ads that it disallowed because the advertisers failed to complete Twitter’s obligatory certification process for political campaign advertisement. Twitter reported on its new election integrity policy, which prohibits specific categories of manipulative behavior and content, such as misleading information about how to participate in the elections and voter intimidation.
Next steps
These regular reports from the platforms are published as a way of helping the EC to verify that Google, FB and Twitter are implementing their policies as a way of protecting the integrity of the electoral process in the lead-up to the European elections in May 2019.
By the end of 2019, the EC will produce a comprehensive assessment of the results of the first 12-month period of the Code. Should the results prove unsatisfactory, the EC may propose further actions, including regulatory measures for online platforms.
More on the website of the European Commission in English.
Consul of Ukraine Visits Ukrainian Journalist in Russian Prison; Ukraine’s Mission to UN Makes Statement about 950 Days of Journalist’s Imprisonment
May 16 – The Consul of Ukraine in Moscow, Albert Cherniuk, visited Roman Sushchenko, the Ukrainian journalist who has been illegally imprisoned in the Kirov region of Russia. The visit was reported by Ukrinform agency, which received information from Mark Feigin, Sushchenko’s public defender. Feigin told Ukrinform he also plans to visit Sushchenko in the near future.
Ukrinform's Paris-based correspondent Roman Sushchenko was illegally detained on September 30, 2016 in Moscow, where he arrived on a private trip. On October 7, 2016, he was charged with espionage. Russia’s FSB said that Sushchenko is a member of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The latter denied this allegation.
On June 4, 2018, the Moscow City Court sentenced Sushchenko to 12 years in a high-security penal colony. An appeal against the sentence was filed on June 5, 2018, and on September 12, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the verdict of the Moscow City Court. Sushchenko was transferred to a penal colony in Kirov region (Kirovo-Chepetsk town).
In a May 16 press release, the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations (UN) welcomed the release of two Reuters reporters after 500 days of imprisonment in Myanmar, but reminded the international community that the imprisonment of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko continues. "After over 500 days of imprisonment in Myanmar, Reuters reporters La Lone and Kiaw Sye Oo have finally been released,” the statement read. “This is a huge victory for all the defenders of freedom of speech. At the same time, today is already the 950th day of the imprisonment in Russia of the reporter of Ukrinform Roman Sushchenko. The battle continues."
More on Ukrinform in Ukrainian.
Media Industry Leaders Voice their Expectations of the New President
May 15 – Detector Media (DM) asked Ukraine’s media industry leaders about their expectations of President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky. Among those surveyed were the Independent Association of Broadcasters, Ukrainian Cinema Association, the Association of Copyright Holders and Content providers, Ukrainian Association of Media Business, and the Internet Association of Ukraine.
Among the recommendations were the following:
1. Adopt laws on audiovisual media services, electronic communications, use of radio frequency resources of Ukraine, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure for communications development.
2. Provide residents of the occupied territories and of Russia-annexed Crimea with balanced and objective information.
3. Allow the National TV and Radio Council to complete the digital reform process without interference; respect for the state regulator’s independence should be a top priority.
4. Fight against impunity for attacks on journalists for their professional duties.
5. Combat piracy (taking stories from other media without acknowledging the source).
6. Expand channels for print media distribution and cancel the import duty on paper.
7. Introduce a state support program for print and electronic media.
8. Provide state financing for the cinema industry, for film education and for international promotion of Ukrainian films.
9. Complete Ukraine's membership in Eurimages and the process of signing intergovernmental agreements on joint film production with China, Canada and other strategic partners of Ukraine.
10. Implement cash rebates in the cinema industry as specified in law.
11. Introduce electronic governance at the National Council to facilitate licensing and registration.
12. Solve the issues between the digital signal monopoly holder, Zeonbud, and the broadcasters who have applied to receive space in the digital spectrum.
13. Reduce taxes for telecommunication operators.
14. Prohibit law enforcement agencies from interfering with the work of the telecommunications operators.
The media industry leaders told DM they understand that these measures are beyond the president’s powers and responsibilities, according to Ukraine’s Constitution. However, they expressed the hope that President Zelensky will promote legislative initiatives that improve the media environment in Ukraine.
More on Detector Media in Ukrainian.
Ethics Commission Expresses Public Condemnation of 112 Ukraine TV Channel
May 15 – The Commission for Journalism Ethics (CJE) issued a statement criticizing 112 Ukraine TV for its April 10 report about the meeting of Russian president Vladimir Putin with the chairman of the For Life party, Victor Medvedchuk. The CJE declared that 112 Ukraine TV violated Article 6 of the Code of Ethics of Ukrainian Journalists, regarding maintaining the standards of completeness of reporting and objectivity of information.
“The plot [of the news report] said that Vladimir Putin and the chairman of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform - For Life Victor Medvedchuk (who, according to the channel’s news reader, “is engaged in the release of hostages in the occupied territories and in the Russian Federation”), discussed the release of 22 Ukrainian seamen and two officers of the State Security Service,” the statement said. “At the same time, there is neither video of the meeting nor information about its details or its results in the report. The segment referred to information provided by Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, but the channel did not show his direct speech or a written press release. Thus, the report did not provide any confirmation to the report’s claims,” CJE stated.
CJE experts wrote that 112 Ukraine’s story was presented “actually in line with the position of the Russian Federation, while no allegations of possible criminal acts of Russian military were reported.”
More on Detector Media in Ukrainian and on the website of the Commission for Journalism Ethics in Ukrainian.
Media Program in Ukraine Partners’ Activities
Suspilnist Foundation Launches Online Debates
May 15 – The Suspilnist Foundation (SF) launched a series of online youth debate shows called "Responsible Leadership." The project aims to increase the culture of debate in Ukraine and specifically among students, by involving them in discussions about issues of public policy, gender, the environment, and international relations. The students will ask questions of debate participants, who will be political experts, public officials, and members of parliament.
The theme of the first debate was "Efficient Management during War - Parliamentary or Presidential Republic?" The debaters were Serhiy Taran, director of the Center for Political and Sociological Studies, who defended the presidential republic political system, and Roman Bezsmertny, former Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Belarus and 2019 presidential election candidate, who argued in favor of a parliamentary republic. The debate's moderator was Dmytro Tuzov, a well-known Ukrainian journalist and radio anchor.
According to the results of the debate’s Facebook voting, Serhiy Taran garnered 55% support of viewers to Roman Bezsmertny’s 45%.
Students of the Institute of International Relations and the Institute of Journalism of Taras Shevchenko National University asked hard questions of the speakers, and demonstrated a keen knowledge of Ukraine’s political system and its institutional challenges.
POID Reports on Regional Media Quality during Elections
May 14 – In April 2019, the Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy (POID) monitored destatized regional print media outlets and their websites in eight regions of Ukraine: Sumy, Poltava, Kherson, Chernihiv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Donetsk. POID director Svitlana Yeremenko, in an article summarizing the monitoring results entitled "Most Destatized Regional Media Continue to be Dependent on the Authorities," which was published on Detector Media’s and POID's websites, concluded that independent local media remain in close contact with local authorities and demonstrate willingness to serve the authorities’ interests. Among the possible reasons for this situation, POID experts said, was a lack of understanding of media business rules, a lack of marketing strategies in local media, poor communication skills with audiences, lack of circulating capital, and small and underdeveloped local advertising markets. As a result, local authorities remain the main advertisers for the local media, and, this in turn affects the content of the publications.
Local media continue to publish jeansa (hidden advertising). POID noted that online versions are publishing jeansa at a much higher rate than their newspaper counterparts. In April, Petro Poroshenko, Yulia Tymoshenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko (former head of the State Security Service and presidential candidate in 2019), and Ministry of Justice head Pavlo Petrenko were the most frequently cited figures in these destatized media. At the local level, the deputy of the Sumy Regional Council, Lilia Rychkina, and the deputy of Kherson regional council, Pavlo Filipchuk, were the favorites of these media in April.
According to Yeremenko, POID experts noticed that during the presidential election period, local media often served up poorly justified surveys and statistics to their readers; publications of polling results did not include any analysis, expert assessments or research results. If the media work in the same way during the parliamentary elections, POID experts contend, the voter will be unlikely to get an objective picture of the candidates from this source.
One positive result of the April monitoring was the near complete absence of pro-Russian messages, propaganda, and fakes, which would have represented a threat to the information security of Ukraine, Yeremenko concluded.
More on POID website in Ukrainian and at Detector Media in Ukrainian.
|
