The revolutionary Law on Media comes into force on 31 March 2023. Firstly, this law turns the entire public communications system in Ukraine through the media on its head. Secondly, it opens the door to further European integration. Its approval was required as part of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.

One of the main innovations of the law is the prohibition of disseminating materials that contain signs of or incite discrimination or harassment of individuals and groups based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This protects LGBTI communities and other social groups from unacceptable discrimination in the media.

At the same time, the law allows for the free expression of opinions and assessments, including negative ones, about LGBTI communities and other oppressed groups, preserving freedom of speech and the free exchange of thoughts and emotions in the media, including value judgments.

We, as a Consortium, profess the following approach in our legislative work: maximum freedoms multiplied by the convenience and clarity of laws.

EXAMPLES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW ON MEDIA:

YOU CAN:

• Criticise LGBT leaders and ordinary people, their ideas and decisions, lifestyle, street actions, and LGBT symbols.
• Share their opinions and assessments of LGBT communities, including highly negative ones.
• Promote a religious view of LGBT people without calling for crimes or discrimination.
• Present a variety of points of view.
• Form petitions to the authorities in defense of their views.
• To publicly destroy LGBT symbols (provided that the symbols are purchased and belong to those who commit the act of destruction).
• To cooperate in organizing counter-protests and cover them.
• Organize creative flash mobs against LGBT people through social media.
• Collect signatures against new laws.
• Quote public statements of officials without restriction, including homophobic statements.
• Declare a boycott of companies and corporations that promote civil equality for LGBT people.

YOU DON’T:

• Distribute materials – texts, audio, video, graphics – that contain signs of or incite discrimination or harassment of individuals and groups based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Spread fakes (knowingly false information) about LGBT people.
• Publicly use deliberately abusive (so-called obscene) language.
• To call for violence and incite hatred against LGBT people.
• To relish in public space the description of scenes of humiliation and violence against LGBT people.
• Engage in direct protest actions to restrict rights (discrimination) based on SOGI, e.g., obstructing freedom of peaceful assembly.
• Predict or announce discriminatory actions of third parties against LGBT people.

It is important to note that this law properly regulates the media sphere, imposing restrictions on intermediaries between the speaker and the audience, not on citizens or figures expressing their opinions.

The adoption of this law is the long-awaited result of many years of hard work. Together with the state, we searched for a Solomonic solution: how to end discriminatory attacks without infringing on freedom of speech.
The new law demonstrates that Ukraine continues to sovereignly assert the values shared with the European Union on its territory. At the same time, we as a state are decisively moving away from how the media live and function in the post-Soviet reserve, the Russian Federation, and its accomplice, the Republic of Belarus.

At the same time, it is necessary to understand that building a society that respects people’s rights and freedoms cannot be achieved through laws and reforms on paper alone. This is the task of every citizen and the entire Ukrainian society.