Fines of MDL 5,000 for TV Stations that Have Inadequately Reported on the Girl Abused in Ialoveni

At the public hearing on December 28, 2017, the members of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) applied fines in the amount of MDL 5,000 to 7 TV stations, which reported inadequately on the case of a minor girl abused in the town of Ialoveni in early November.

The BCC intervened after a phone call from a viewer who asked for three TV stations – Publika TV, CANAL 2 and PRIME – to be checked in connection with the broadcast of improper images of a minor girl from Ialoveni. However, the BCC found that other stations reporting this story also violated professional ethics and decided to expand the monitoring.

The results of the monitoring performed by the BCC showed that the private televisions PRIME, CANAL 2, CANAL 3, PUBLIKA TV, TV 8, ACCENT TV and the public television Moldova 1 violated, in this case, the BCC decisions on classifying television programs to protect children and to respect rights of children in television programs, as well as the legislation on protection of children from the negative impact of information.

As a result, the BCC decided to impose penalties on these TV stations for violation of the legislation on the rights of the child.

It should be recalled that the Press Council of Moldova adopted a decision on this case, recommending journalists and media outlets to exclude sensational approach to such subjects and not to report on details that might affect human dignity.