Latvia bans 16 Russian TV channels | Political scientist's comment

Глянько Катерина
·
13:13, 09 February
Latvia bans 16 Russian TV channels | Political scientist's comment
Image source: Работники TV

The Latvian National Council for Electronic Media (NEPLP) has decided to exclude 16 Russian TV channels from the list of those retransmitted in the country, as their representative in the country has been unknown since 1 February. The decision will take effect at midnight, on February 10.

This is stated in a statement on the regulator’s website.

NEPLP excludes the following TV channels from the list: REN TV Baltic, NTV Mir Baltic, Karusel International, NTV Series, NTV Style, NTV Law, Kinomix, Our New Cinema, Native Cinema, Indian Cinema, Comedy Film, Film Series, KVN TV, Kitchen TV, BOX TV, and HD Life.

NEPLP requested a possible new program distribution representative to submit to the Council supporting documents on the rights to distribute the above programs in Latvia, but no documents confirming such rights have been received.

“This decision was taken because the Council has no information on the above-mentioned program distribution representative or representatives in Latvia who could give consent on behalf of the program owners for distribution in Latvia, and the Council has not received information from the owner on continued distribution in Latvia”, - the message says.

UPD: Political scientist Volodymyr Tsybulko explained to Suspilne Crimea why the Latvian authorities are doing this.

"Russia's blatant propaganda does not meet any democratic norms. Secondly, many European countries follow the British practice, where no television channel can belong to a political force or state. The media must be independent", - he said.

What is known

  • On February 8, the National Electronic Media Council of Latvia (NEPLP) banned the broadcast of Russia RTR in the country for a year. The reason for the decision were two programs that incited hatred and called for war.