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Maia Banarescu, the ombudsman for the rights of the child and interim ombudsman, mentions that the problems previously registered in the sphere of freedom of expression “have remained unresolved, and in the context of the constraints caused by the healthcare crisis, some of them have even worsened.”
Besides, according to the ombudsman, 2020 was the year marked by a number of cases of pressure and intimidation against persons publicly expressing their critical views on the situation in the country, in particular those related to the healthcare crisis management.
Maia Banarescu also states that the “decline in freedom of the media registered in the latest seven years” still continues. “Journalists working on the frontlines of the pandemic and encountering eventual health risks have faced verbal attacks and pressure, including from politicians or officials reacting to their critical views on the way the authorities manage the healthcare crisis,” she mentions in the report.
The ombudsman notes the “lack of progress” in respecting the right of access to information, emphasizing that, during the state of emergency, a barrier for obtaining timely information of public interest emerged after the Committee on Emergencies adopted a provision on tripling the term for presenting the information by the institutions and public authorities (from 15 to 45 days). “Extending the term to 45 days has considerably limited journalists’ and individuals’ access to information of public interest,” Maia Banarescu concludes.
The Ombudsman says the new coronavirus pandemic “has aroused a massive wave of fakes, misleading information, or conspiracy theories.” “The danger of massive disinformation and its impact on the spread of the virus have not been properly assessed or combated efficiently and timely. The experience of the Republic of Moldova during the healthcare crisis reveals that disinformation can have dramatic effects if not countered by mobilizing all the stakeholders, from online platforms to public authorities,” she concludes in the report.
The document also mentions that last year, adopting the project of amending and completing a set of laws containing recommendations from the Independent Journalism Center, the Independent Press Association, and other media NGOs on amending several documents, including the Law on Access to Information, the Law on Freedom of Expression, and the Law on Personal Data Protection, failed.
Therefore, the ombudsman recommends that the authorities re-activate the working group to improve media legislation, adopt the draft law on access to information prepared by civil society, create and ensure functionality of an efficient structure of communicating with the journalistic environment during the pandemic crisis to inform the public timely and adequately, prepare, adopt, and implement efficient strategies to counter disinformation, fake news, and manipulation in the virtual space, provide access to correct and objective information, and compass other purposes.
