Government Changes Information Provision Rules During State of Emergency

The Government of the Republic of Armenia adopted a decision on March 19, modifying several provisions related to information dissemination during the state of emergency, as outlined in the annex of the government decision N 298-N dated March 16, 2020, declaring a state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia.

“Based on Article 34 of the 'Normative Legal Acts' law, the Government of the Republic of Armenia decides:

1. To make the following amendments to the annex of the government's decision N 298-N dated March 16, 2020:
2. Point 23 will be reformulated as follows:
   23. The dissemination, transfer, including in the form of publications on internet sites and social media, of information regarding existing and new cases of coronavirus infection within and outside the Republic of Armenia, the health status of individuals, sources of infection, individuals who have been in contact with existing or potential carriers, the number of individuals undergoing examinations (virus testing) and those isolated, measures conducted by the authorized body in the healthcare sector, and data related to them, as well as publications containing information that may cause obvious panic or create a state of emergency, is allowed only with reference to the information provided by the emergency commission (hereafter referred to as official information).
3. Point 25 will be reformulated as follows:
   25. The restrictions established by this chapter shall not apply to:
   1) Reports made by state officials or references to their reports.
   2) References to official websites and official social media pages of foreign state leaders, government bodies, and/or their representatives.
   3) References to official websites and official social media pages of international organizations accredited in the Republic of Armenia and/or involving the Republic of Armenia.

This decision comes into force upon publication.

It is noteworthy that prior to this amended decision, media outlets were unable to publish information referencing international media, foreign officials, or departments regarding the coronavirus.