Media Perspectives Ignored, They Say 'We Will Pass the Law, You Work Smartly' - Vardanyan

The most unacceptable policy adopted by this government is not consulting with stakeholders on the projects that relate to Mass Media. They are passing a law on media, but do not listen to the views of media outlets, saying, 'We will pass the law, you also work smartly with the regulations we have planned.' This was stated by Elinar Vardanyan, a member of the 'Armenia' faction, during a discussion in Parliament regarding the bill to amend the law on media initiated by the representatives of the ruling party.

According to the deputy, the bill attempts to cover the concept of 'anonymous sources.' 'The concept of unidentifiable sources encompasses online registered domains, websites with hosting, or social media account details, for which identification data is necessary, including name, surname, residence, etc. If the identification data are absent or inadequate, in such a case, it will be considered an unidentifiable source, and the media outlet referring to that unidentifiable source will not be released from responsibility in any way,' stated Elinar Vardanyan.

The deputy also noted that the bill includes several changes related to the accreditation process for media outlets. 'Regulations are foreseen concerning financial reporting. I found this somewhat unclear; in any case, media outlets have been presenting financial reports, but I do not know the actual purpose of imposing an additional obligation on media outlets for financial reporting,' said Elinar Vardanyan.