Six television channels in Moldova have had their broadcast licenses suspended over accusations of misinformation, inaccurate coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and “attempts to manipulate public opinion.”

The decision to revoke the licenses of the channels, namely; First in Moldova, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, TV6 and Orhei TV was announced late Friday, December 16, 2022 by Moldova’s Commission for Exceptional Situations.

Moldova’s Commission for Exceptional Situations was established after Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The commission disclosed that the suspensions were made after an assessment by Moldova’s Audiovisual Council found a “lack of correct information in the coverage of national events, but also of the war in Ukraine.”

Also, it said that the suspensions aim to “prevent the risk of disinformation … or attempts to manipulate public opinion.”

Four of the six suspended channels; First in Moldova, RTR Moldova, NTV Moldova, and TV6 regularly re-transmit programs from Russian TV channels that were banned by the European Council as part of a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia on Friday, December 16, 2022.

The EU’s Council said that the banned Russian broadcasters are under the “direct or indirect control of the leadership of the Russian Federation and have been used by (the) latter for its continuous and concerted disinformation and war propaganda actions.”

TV6 labelled the suspension as “totally unfounded” and “an unprecedented attack on freedom of expression, editorial freedom (and) freedom of journalists.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, the channel noted that, the commission’s argument “is not only totally unfounded but also downright false.”

Some of the suspended channels are owned by people close to Ilan Shor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch who heads the Russia-friendly Shor Party.

The party in recent months has carried out large demonstrations in Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, against the pro-Western government.

Shor has been implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes, and last week, the United Kingdom added him to an international sanctions list.

Ilan Shor has also been accused of bribery to secure his position as head of a Moldovan bank in 2014 and was recently named on a U.S. State Department sanctions list as working for Russian interests.

President Hails The Suspensions

Moldovan President, Maia Sandu hailed the suspensions, saying they are “an important step to prevent attempts to destabilize” the country.

“We cannot accept that in this challenging period, the security of the state and the peaceful life of citizens are endangered by fugitives who want only one thing to escape justice.”
Moldovan President, Maia Sandu

Moldova, a former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people, is one of Europe’s poorest nations.

Presently, the country is struggling with severe inflation and an energy crisis, including widespread power outages last month after Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, to which Moldova’s systems remain connected.