The President approved amendments to the law on media

The amendments prohibit the founding of media outlets by those convicted of extremist crimes and give Roskomnadzor the right to stop the distribution of foreign publications for violating anti-extremist legislation.

On July 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law amending the federal law "On Mass Media". The amendments come into force on January 1, 2018.

The bill was submitted to the State Duma in December 2015, adopted in the first reading in February 2017, in the second - on July 20, 2017, in the third - on July 21.

The amendments, among other things, provide for the introduction of a ban on the establishment of the media for persons who are serving sentences in places of deprivation of liberty or have a criminal record for committing crimes using the mass media or information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, or for committing crimes. associated with the implementation of extremist activities .

In addition, the amendments allow Roskomnadzor to deny or revoke permission to distribute a foreign periodical printed publication if the publication does not comply with the article of the law on media abuse and anti-extremist legislation in general. At the same time, the cancellation occurs based on the results of " measures for control (supervision) ... including without interaction with the distributor of a foreign periodical printed publication " in the manner established by Roskomnadzor.

From our point of view, the entry into force of the amendments will lead to unjustified restrictions on the right to freedom of speech. Those convicted of extremist crimes will be infringed on this right, and sentences under the relevant articles are often unlawful. At the same time, the effectiveness of this amendment is questionable: persons subject to the ban on establishing a media outlet will still be able to participate in the work of media outlets founded by someone else.

As for the procedure for distributing foreign periodicals, the text of the law not only does not say that permits must be canceled in court, but it does not even describe exactly how Roskomnadzor will detect violations of anti-extremist legislation. This raises concerns about the possibility that Roskomnadzor may make unlawful decisions out of court that significantly restrict freedom of speech.

Sources

• The requirements for the output data that should be placed by the online publication - a site registered as a mass media // Consultant Plus. 2017. July 31.