DISINFO: The EU encourages censorship in Moldova
SUMMARY
The EU encourages censorship of 'wrong' media in Moldova. On March 24, the Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance decided to suspend the permits of the company SA "Cotidian", which owns the TVC21 TV channel. The EU Ambassador to Moldova, Janis Mažeiks, not only did not condemn the prohibitive actions of the authorities, but even recommended that the authorities introduce censorship more wisely.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about alleged media censorship in Moldova.
The claim refers to a recent decision by the Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance, which suspended the license of channel TVC21 for 60 days. According to the minutes of the meeting in which the decision was made, the Council refused to approve investments by the company that owns the TV station (p. 4) because it did not present the complete file, and the information "was not supported by conclusive information." To eliminate the irregularities, the company was suspended from providing certain services for a period of 60 days
The EU Ambassador to Moldova, Janis Mažeiks, did not encourage the decision, but on the contrary, criticised it. In a TV show (min. 49.40-51.00), he said: "From our point of view, the problem is not in the decision itself, but in the rather meagre justification for this decision. This is one of those aspects that we need to think about so that the decisions that are made are understandable to both society and those they concern. It is not always clear what the reasons are, and, in my opinion, it is very important that this justification be more detailed," the ambassador said.
The EU supports and protects media freedom and condemns censorship, as it can be seen in its adopted acts.
See similar cases: EU introduces censorship ahead of European Parliament elections, the EU practises censorship and war propaganda against Russia, Suspension of Sputnik Estonia is censorship.