Adoption of problematic media freedom bill criticised at home and abroad

With the changes, the KPM will have a mandate to monitor even online media work that produces audio-visual content, while providing fines of up to 40,000 euros for those media that commit various legal violations.

This problem bill, issued by the government in December last year, had sparked much criticism both at home and abroad.

The Office of the European Union in Kosovo has said changes to the KPM Bill should be made in a way that will not have negative “impact” on media freedom.

And in February of this year, the Association of Kosovo Journalists had called on an extraordinary conference, calling on the Government of Kosovo to give up changes to this law.

For the first time in Kosovo's history, the mode of online media regulation that publishs video, we know that almost all the media publish videos, from the system of self - disorder we have in Kosovo in state regulation, forcing them to submit to the state arrangement.

Legal changes that reason on behalf of the alignment of our legislation with the European one are in flagrant conflict with the Council of Europe standards.

Under 1, online media will be subject to state license by KPM

Online media will be forced to open companies to meet registration requirements.

Online media will submit to the fine regime of up to 400,000 euros and we know that 400,000 euros is enough to shut down each media online.

What we have seen with this proposal that the prime minister's legal office initiative is the initiative to control online media through licensing and is the next press freedom attack.

The state camera will be easily used to each medium with the threat of a fine of 40 thousand euros, which risks closing off each medium”, Had the lawyer declared the Kusari butterfly.

And AGK chairman Xhemajl Rexha, has declared that the bill as such is the goal of power to bring media under control.

The government's efforts to attack the media and control them because it is projected that the KPM will monitor, monitor and punish online media with video content. We consider this an attack on media freedom. We invite the government to withdraw from these changes and invite activists, media and civil society to be able to do their job without political pressure”.

What has been warned that would happen and was seen happening during the debate over this bill, is that the Government would be called into a directive known as the European Union's directive for audio-visual services ( AVMS ) 2010/13 / EU for Media Services Audio-Vizuele)

To understand in short, this is the directive that must be adopted by all countries aimed at European integration, or are already integrated.

But, according to clarifications from media connoisseurs, such directives apply in various cultural, social, and other cases.

One of the countries that has not applied this directive is the Netherlands, since it has assessed the form of media disorder as a better form.