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While this month was relatively quiet for the regulator’s work, Verkhovna Rada revived a number of ideas that were considered buried forever after the MPs had not paid attention to them in almost a year. The GDPR-styled Law on Personal Data Protection will be subject to extensive debate on balancing privacy versus free speech before the second reading, as will the draft laws on the decriminalization of porn and changes in the advertising regulation, with both topics being sensitive for the Ukrainian society.

In October, some long-awaited events influencing the Ukrainian media sector occurred. The MPs registered the draft amendments to the Law on Media, which aim to fix certain bugs in its implementation practice. Ukrainian Parliament also proceeded with the selection of the expired member in the media regulator, which is necessary to enhance NBC’s independence in light of the EU Enlargement Report’s recommendations and the lack of the regulator’s funding for the next year in the draft budget. Co-regulation also kept evolving, with the first body announcing certain important calls for management and expert positions.

September was marked by the governmental overhaul, which led to the appointment of the permanent minister of culture and strategic communications, and the beginning of the budget process for the upcoming year. The security services added their position to the Telegram regulatory debate, recommending its ban on public officials’ devices. The legislator and the media regulator were largely silent this month despite submitting certain amendments to the Criminal Code: no laws or important regulations were adopted.

European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) is the regulation adopted by the EU in April 2024 to safeguard media pluralism and editorial independence in an environment undergoing rapid digital transformation. Digital Security Lab Ukraine analyzed the norms of Ukrainian legislation, which will require harmonization with the European Media Freedom Act, and prepared recommendations in 10 key spheres that reflect EMFA’s provisions to be implemented prior to EU accession.

In August, Ukraine became one step closer towards the formal EU accession process by designing the constituency of its negotiation groups. The MPs continued debating the issue of platform regulation and blocking, averting the adoption of Draft Law #11115, potentially liable for harming Internet freedoms. A number of important soft law recommendations advising on media content production were published and endorsed by the authorities this month.

July was marked by the renewal of discussions on platform regulation among Ukraine’s legislative and executive bodies. While they haven’t yet resulted in any changes in the laws, Verkhovna Rada passed three other drafts influencing media freedom and journalists’ rights in the first reading. The media regulator has also been actively working to protect information space by blacklisting new services and people affiliated with Russian propaganda for war.

In June, Ukraine got closer to its European future after the official announcement of the opening of the EU accession negotiations. While there were no tectonic changes of a similar type in the national legal system during this month, the MPs voted for some important pieces of legislation. Read more about the most notable events of this period in the latest issue of our digest.

May has been a turbulent month for the Ukrainian media environment. With “temnyky” returning to Ukrinform and Suspilne leaving the United Marathon, many commentators started questioning whether Ukraine is returning to the times of censoring independent media. However, some progress in implementing the Law on Media was nonetheless achieved. Read more in the May issue of our media regulation digest.

After an eventful start of the spring, in April, Ukrainian legislators mostly engaged in the discussions surrounding the new mobilisation law, and media-related issues had not been priority ones. Thus, this digest will be a relatively short one, depicting the rare initiatives and activities happening exactly one year after the Law on Media’s entry into force. Read about the most notable events happening during this period.

This is the latest issue of our monthly digest on media and digital rights regulation in Ukraine. March 2024 had it all: from draft laws to important decisions by the regulator, as well as international events shaping the regulatory environment for years to come.