Information policy ministry will do all to ensure journalists' safety - Tkachenko

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine will continue to do everything possible to ensure the safety of journalists and the media, Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko has written on Telegram.

"The safety of journalists is a key priority for the state, as it is a guarantee of freedom of speech. As we can see, despite all the efforts of the Council of Europe, arbitrariness and violations of journalists' rights continue in Belarus and Russia. Therefore, it is necessary to apply more stringent means of protection. We will continue to do everything possible to ensure the safety of journalists and the media," Tkachenko wrote.

He said that this is why participants in the conference "Smart policy on artificial intelligence. Challenges and opportunities of the media and democracy" held at the ministry had supported a Council of Europe resolution to address issues related to this area. According to him, this time the conference was held online, for the first time since 2013.

Tkachenko noted that this was a top event of the Council of Europe for ministers responsible for information policy and the media.

"We have already set up a working group with the participation of the Council of Europe, the Interior Ministry, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office, the National Police of Ukraine and civil society organizations to monitor the effectiveness of investigations into cases on which the notices have been submitted to the Council of Europe's Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists," he said.

In July 2020, the Ukrainian parliament registered a revised bill on the media. However, due to a wave of criticism and a lack of full support, the document was not put to the vote.

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