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The Government included into the agenda for Tuesday a draft law on empowering the Information and Security Service to block the websites that “publish extremist messages,” according to UNIMEDIA. Shortly after that, before the Tuesday meeting, the Cabinet withdrew the draft law from the agenda for further consultation.
The Minister of Justice, Oleg Efrim, proposed to exclude this draft law from the agenda, and the Cabinet accepted his suggestion. Mr. Efrim said that it is necessary to define certain terms used in the document. The draft law has been approved by all ministries except the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.
That same morning, Sergiu Ostaf, the president of the National Council for Participation (NCP) said at a press conference that the draft law is confusing and that it is unclear whether extremist materials refer to a comment on a website or to something else. Also, it is unclear whether the authorities would block the entire website or only the content in question. However, Mr. Ostaf said that the NCP overall supports the draft law, but would like it to be subjected to debate before approval so as to clarify the above aspects.
The above draft law contains some ambiguities and very severe measures. For example, if a media outlet publishes messages that authorities consider extremist, no advance notice period is provided prior to blocking the material/website. Instead, “the media outlet, pursuant to a final court judgment on cessation or suspension of activity in connection with extremist activity, shall be included into the register of extremist organizations and extremist materials,” says the document.
In addition, according to article 8 of the draft law, when an electronic communications network (“web page, portal, forum, social network, blog, etc.”) contains some extremist material, the Information and Security Service can rule, “by an order to providers of electronic communication networks and/or services, on temporarily blocking access to the material in question on the territory of Moldova.” Temporary blocking would last 60 days, and the draft law does not explain whether it refers to the entire website or to a section. During the temporary blocking, the ISS “must address the court to determine the extremist nature of the material in order to take other action set by this law, as appropriate.”
According to the draft, the order on temporary blocking is to be immediately published on the website of the ISS, and from that moment Internet providers would have about four hours to block the material concerned. Should a website contain two or more materials that are considered extremist, the ISS or a prosecutor may require the court to block access to such a website on the territory of Moldova permanently or for a period of up to one year.
This draft law is the third of the attempts to regulate the Internet space made by authorities since the beginning of October. Previously, the General Prosecutor’s Office approved an action plan that allows authorities to block “illegal websites.” Several days later, the General Prosecutor’s Office proposed a draft law that brings significant modifications to the legislation on censorship in the Internet. It was suggested for inclusion into the Government agenda by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), but following the reaction of the Moldovan mass media and civil society, the Government withdrew it from the agenda as well, so as to organize consultations with Internet providers and other stakeholders.
