Media law

First of all, the adoption of the Media Law is the abolition of preliminary censorship (requirements for the editorial staff of the media from officials on preliminary approval of materials). If we talk about the twentieth century, then there was no preliminary censorship only in the period from 1917 (the first press law) to 1922 (when preliminary censorship was again introduced). The next press law (1990) had to wait 68 years.

As a result of the regime change in 1917, all existing pre-October laws relating to journalistic activities were repealed. One of the first decrees of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was the Decree “On the Press” of October 27 ( November 9 ), 1917, which said: “When the new order is strengthened, all administrative pressures will be stopped; for her full freedom will be established within the limits of responsibility before the court in accordance with the broadest and most progressive law in this regard. ” Following this, the Bolsheviks introduced censorship. The “Progressive Law” had to wait a long time: until 1990, the entire press, radio and television were controlled by the decisions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR . The current Law "On the Mass Media" largely repeats the main provisions of the USSR Law "On the Press and Other Mass Media", which entered into force on August 1, 1990 (adopted on June 12, 1990). Both the Union and Republican laws were adopted on the basis of the copyright projects of Yu. M. Baturin , M. A. Fedotov, and V. L. Entin .

The law “On Mass Media” was adopted by the Supreme Council of Russia and signed by President of the RSFSR Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin on December 27, 1991 . It entered into force from the moment of publication - from February 14, 1992, however the 1991 Law “On Mass Media” is officially called.

• The fundamental principles of media legislation on which the Media Law is based are contained in the Constitution of the Russian Federation : freedom of thought and speech, a ban on inhumane propaganda in its various forms, a ban on censorship (Article 29), ideological pluralism (Article 13), inviolability of private life (arts. 23 and 24), freedom of creativity (art. 44) 3
• Obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists in Russian criminal law

The Media Law consists of 7 chapters, including 62 articles [1] :

Chapter I. General Provisions

It outlines the basic concepts of the media, mentions the prohibition of censorship and the prohibition of misuse of the media.

Chapter II Organization of the media

It contains all the necessary information about the status, rights of the founder and registration of the media.

Chapter III. Mass distribution

This chapter contains information about the rules of disseminating the media, the procedure for registering and obtaining a broadcast license.

Chapter IV Media Relations with Citizens and Organizations

The fourth chapter contains the rights to request and receive information, cases of refusal or delay in providing information. It also indicates the procedure and the right to refute the material in the media, the right to reply.

Chapter V. Rights and obligations of a journalist

Rights and obligations of a journalist, accreditation procedure, unacceptable abuse of the rights of a journalist, as well as rules for using a hidden record are indicated.

Chapter VI. Interstate media cooperation

On access to materials of foreign media, the situation of foreign correspondents.

Chapter VII. Responsibility for violation of the legislation on the media

The procedure discloses liability for violations of the legislation on the media, compensation for non-pecuniary damage and cases of exemption from liability.

On September 1, 2012, amendments (adopted in July 2011) ^[1] to the Media Law entered into force, the stated purpose of which is to warn children from information harmful to their health and development.

Article 25 of the “Law on Mass Media” also acquired 6 points: “Distribution of mass media products in violation of the requirements established by the Federal Law of December 29, 2010 N 436-ФЗ“ On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and development “, may be terminated by the court on the basis of a statement by the federal executive body that exercises state supervision and control over compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on the protection of children from information, if inyayuschey harmful to their health and (or) development. Moreover, the distribution of these products may be suspended by the court in order to ensure the claim provided for by this part. ” [2]

The second part of article 27 of the law on mass media is supplemented with the following content: “When demonstrating newsreel programs and every time radio programs and television programs are broadcast, they must be accompanied by a message about the restriction of their distribution, television programs, as well as newsreel programs, as well as a sign of information products in cases provided for Federal Law of December 29, 2010 N 436-ФЗ “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” [3]

Foreign Media Restriction

Since February 2016, the Law on Mass Media (Article 19.1) restricts the participation of foreign legal entities and individuals (including Russians with dual citizenship) in the capital of Russian mass media: now they can directly or indirectly own and control up to 20% of shares or stakes ^{[ 2]} . The relevant bill No. 604509-6 was adopted by the State Duma on September 26, 2014. 95.6% of the deputies spoke in favor. ^{[3] [4]} Previously, there was a 50% limit and only for television and radio companies ^[5] .

The authors of the amendments, State Duma deputies Vadim Dengin ( Liberal Democratic Party of Russia ), Vladimir Parakhin ( Just Russia ) and Denis Voronenkov ( Communist Party of the Russian Federation ) explained the tightening of restrictions as the Cold Information War against Russia and the deoffshorization of the economy ^[6] .

According to various estimates, the amendments affected 30-35% of the Russian media market, however, the media associated the adoption of the document primarily with the Vedomosti newspaper and Forbes magazine : it was they who wrote most of all on serious economic and socio-political topics, and at the same time had an independent editorial policy ^[7] .