October 31 saw the second meeting between MPs and representatives of media NGOs on amending draft bill No. 14057, which creates censorship risks and contains excessively strict requirements for the media.

The Verkhovna Rada Chair Ruslan Stefanchuk reported on the meeting in a Facebook post.

The Chair said that the parties to the meeting had agreed on several amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine and agreed to continue the work.

“I held a second meeting with representatives of the media industry, human rights advocates, and lawyers, during which we discussed their proposals for Books I and II of the Code. We agreed on several amendments to Book I and reached agreement on many issues in Book II. The work continues,” Stefanchuk wrote.

He added that representatives of the media community, as well as experts in the field of media law, such as the Institute for Regional Press Development, the Human Rights Platform, the Institute of Mass Information, the Digital Security Laboratory, and the Center for Democracy and the Rule of Law, would draft their proposals on:

digital privacy;
protection of personal data;
accountability of online platforms;
the right of reply and refutation.

“We are planning the next meeting. The format of an open dialogue with the professional community is proving effective,” the Verkhovna Rada Chair wrote.

Volodymyr Zelenchuk, a lawyer at the Institute of Mass Information, said that an agreement on many of the issues had been reached during the meeting but discussions on the rest would continue.

“The meeting was held to agree on amendments to draft bill No. 14057 that would be acceptable to the journalist community while reflecting the ideas laid down by its authors. The meeting participants managed to reach agreement on a significant part of the issues, while discussions on the rest will continue. In general, the work on the draft bill continues and the developed version no longer looks as threatening as its original version. And of course, the very fact that there is a dialogue between the authors of the draft bill and media lawyers is surprisingly positive. This formula really works, and that’s how those draft bills that have an immediate impact not just on the rights of journalists but also on freedom of speech in the country should be prepared for consideration in parliament,” the IMI lawyer commented.