Сoronavirus response should not impede the work of the media in Russia, says OSCE Media Freedom Representative

VIENNA, 24 March 2020 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concerns today about recent interferences regarding media content by the media regulatory agency in Russia, Roskomnadzor, in the context of the fight against disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I fully understand the need to combat false information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Desir said. “But I want to stress the key role of the media in providing important information to the public and to counter fake news on the pandemic,” the Representative added. “That is why I am concerned by some undue restrictions on the activities of several media in this context.”

Based on interactions with the office of the Prosecutor-General of the Russian Federation on 19 March, Roskomnadzor demanded that the Echo of Moscow radiostation delete the recording and the transcript of its “Minority Opinion” talk show with political analyst Valery Solovey about the coronavirus. The station noted that the government media watchdog did not clarify which words in the program triggered the complaint.

In addition, on 20 March, Roskomnadzor also requested that the hosting provider of the online newspaper “Govorit Magadan” block access to a story about a local resident hospitalized over suspicion of having contracted the coronavirus. This person spent a week in hospital, after which he died. The newspaper did not name the cause of death. The editors called Roskomnadzor’s demand arbitrary and illegal.

Access to these two stories is effectively blocked.