Commenting on the possibility of holding elections under martial law, he emphasized that “United News” “is one of the elements that needs a separate regulation” in Ukrainian legislation.
“This is also a question of compliance with standards, because the existence of a single marathon format does not entirely correspond with the election campaign, with the election process,” Dubovik said.
He noted the need to “ensure the possibility of free radio and television broadcasting.”
“Today there are certain restrictions associated with the threat of enemy propaganda. We all carry out the decisions made by government bodies. At the time of the election campaign, this may need to undergo certain changes, since free expression of opinions must be ensured, in particular through the media,” explained the deputy head of the Central Election Commission.
Dubovik recalled that there are Ukrainians who do not use social networks and do not have access to YouTube.
“Candidates for any position must be able to freely express their opinions,” he emphasized.
On December 22, the Verkhovna Rada began preparing a bill on elections during the war, said Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. According to him, the new law will be one-time only.
Context
The “United News” telethon was launched on February 24, 2022 – the day of the full-scale Russian invasion. Content for it is produced by various Ukrainian TV channels, funds for the telethon are allocated from the state budget (the Media Detector publication, with reference to people’s deputies, wrote about approximately 1.7 billion UAH per year).
Surveys by Ukrainian sociological companies have shown that Ukrainians’ trust in the telethon is falling.
The 2023 Ukraine Human Rights Report, published on the US State Department website, said the national telethon violated freedom of expression for the media.
