“Deputies” displeased with the new information bill :: Charter'97 :: News

The bill on information, information procedures and information protection is still “very uneven, but the Ministry of Information doesn’t work on it thoroughly enough,” deputy chairperson of the commission for industry, fuel-energy complex, transport, communication and private business of Belarus’ “chamber of representatives” Tatsiana Safronienka told BelaPAN on July 5, before the session of the executive group of the commission that considers the bill.

The document determines the basis of the state policies in the information sphere as well as the status of participants of informational interaction. Moreover, it sets goals and measures of information protection, rights and obligations of information owners and the owners of the program-technical networks. In T.Safronienka’s view, the document contains too many reference rules. The authors of the bill claim it to be a framework document, but T.Safronienka considers their arguments insufficient. “We have too many laws of this type at the moment,” - she remarked.

T.Safronienka said the parliamentarian commission had received a great number of remarks, some from the president’s administration, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the OSCE. She claimed the remarks were essential and could be agreed with. T.Safronienka is convinced that the bill adopted by the deputies “must become a legal tool of regulation for the mass media; it must protect the rights of both audience and mass media.” As for now, as the deputy emphasized, the bill can be declined at the autumn session of the parliament. At the same time she said the bill was really vital; T.Safronienka cited corresponding laws in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Germany, which as more complete, as examples.