The Head of State promulgated on Sunday a law on information security, that will ban the broadcasting of Russian news and political analysis, the Kremlin regime’s main way of spreading its propaganda in Moldova. The law stipulates that the ban will also apply after the state of emergency in Moldova after Russia invaded Ukraine expires.

The law bans news and analytical broadcasts from countries that have not ratified the Convention on Transfrontier Television.

“Next week the law should enter into force and propaganda will be punished much more severely. Thus, media organisations that misinform will be sanctioned gradually, from fines to the withdrawal of the right to broadcast advertising”, said the head of the Moldovan Broadcasting Council, Liliana Vițu.

Such news and broadcasts are currently banned following the imposition of the state of emergency, but the new law will allow the ban to remain in place after the state of emergency expires.

The information security law, described by Moldova’s opposition as “instituting censorship”, stipulates that 50% of the content broadcast on TV stations must come from the EU, US and states that have ratified the Convention on Transfrontier Television.