Ukraine's Presidential Office initiates creation of Council on Freedom of Speech

17.07.2019 14:32

Ukrinform

Ukraine's Presidential Office initiates the creation of a Council on Freedom of Speech under the President of Ukraine, which will help record and eliminate threats to freedom of speech, signs of censorship and protect the rights of journalists, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko has said.

He said this at an expert meeting entitled "Freedom of speech and information security of Ukraine: common challenges – common decisions" on July 17, the press service of the head of state reported.

"Dialogue with the media community is important to us, so we are launching the work of the council. It will meet on a regular basis," Tymoshenko said.

According to the presidential press service, the council will include one representative from every editorial board of central media outlets.

The council is expected to help record and eliminate threats to freedom of speech and signs of censorship. The priorities include the protection of journalists' right to fulfill their professional duties. For this purpose, the council will include representatives of law enforcement agencies and media consultants.

It was proposed that similar councils, consisting of representatives of regional media outlets, be also created at regional state administrations.