On May 20, in the pavilion of “1in.am”, the chairman of the TRC (Television and Radio Commission) Tigran Hakobyan, referring to the new TRC law, made several remarks, which, according to him, solve some of the problems of the media sphere. According to the new law, the content of the broadcast will be regulated. The head of the TRC noted that if there is no control, freedom leads to manipulative tricks, promotes the growth of disinformation. According to Hakobyan, this is evidenced by many European, Asian and American countries. Speaking about the content restrictions in the Law on Audiovisual Media, he noted: “If in the past there were very few content restrictions, now those restrictions are about protecting people’s right to receive accurate information. There are provisions in the bill that guarantee the right to respond. And if a TV station targets and discredits a person from morning to night, then that person, organization, institution, according to the new law, has the right to respond.”
“Media Advocate” initiative sees a tendency to censor the broadcasting. In fact, Tigran Hakobyan did not present any mechanism, according to which this or that information will be considered as a fact or a manipulation. Thus, the freedom of speech of the media is restricted, which in many cases has the opportunity to provide reliable information from closed sources. This control is not only a violation of the freedom of the media, it may also serve the current government.
“Media Advocate” initiative states that no large-scale public discussions are carried out on the new law, the opinions of professional groups are not considered either.
