The imposition of sanctions against the Ukrainian TV channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK is due to “reinforced concrete reasons”, said the head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that this ban is not related to criticism of TV channels against him. Zelensky drew attention to the fact that he has devoted more than 20 years to working on television, so he knows very well what censorship is.
“Don’t you think that even if I, the person who was often asked not to talk about it, not to joke, not to remember, the person who was forbidden from concerts, his films and TV shows were forbidden, who hates censorship with all his nature and knowing that is to defend freedom of speech, made such a decision, so these were weighty, reinforced concrete reasons? ” – he said in his video message posted on Telegram on Friday, February 5.
According to Zelenskiy, the banned channels “contained speaking armies” that allegedly worked against the country. He also said that the question of the introduction of these sanctions was initiated back in 2018.
On February 5, in the Verkhovna Rada, during a report by one of the deputies about closed TV channels, a scuffle took place between the parliamentarians.
On February 2, the Ukrainian leader put into effect the NSDC decision on restrictions against the TV and radio company 112 Ukraine, its regional channels Ariadna TV, TV Vybor, New Format, Partner TV and Leader TV, as well as the company News 24 hours ”(NewsOne TV channel).
The next day, TV channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK stopped broadcasting and lost their domains.
Zelensky explained his decision by the fact that Kiev is fighting “propaganda”. In turn, the journalists called what was happening the elimination of unwanted media and promised to continue their activities.
The Kremlin condemned Zelensky’s decision, noting that it does not meet international standards. The International Federation of Journalists called it censorship, and the Opposition Platform – For Life party planned to initiate the impeachment procedure of the country’s president.