Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has assigned Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko to be in charge of coordinating the police’s investigations of attacks against journalists in Ukraine, Gerashchenko announced at a special hearing on freedom of speech in Ukraine’s parliament on Nov. 6.
The appointment is controversial because Gerashchenko has been a vocal supporter of Myrotvorets, a website that many believe has endangered Ukrainian journalists by pronouncing them “traitors.” Gerashchenko has also made false statements in the press numerous times, including when commenting on the course of criminal investigations.
Now, Gerashchenko is the interior ministry’s point person for “ensuring freedom of speech.”
“Interior Minister Avakov gave me this job, and I will do all I can to ensure your safety and, thus, safety for the state and the freedom of democracy in this country,” he said in a speech at the Verkhovna Rada, addressing journalists. “The freedom and safety of journalists mean freedom and safety for all of us.”
According to Gerashchenko, the Interior Ministry will launch a section dedicated to “crimes against journalists and their investigations” on its website. It will also showcase statistics on crimes against journalists in Ukraine and the state of its investigations into these crimes.
Ensuring freedom of the press is a “matter of honor” for the Interior Ministry and the National Police of Ukraine, Gerashchenko added.
At the same time, Ukrainian journalists and human rights activists were angered by this appointment due to Gerashchenko’s connection to Myrotvorets, a popular database of “enemies of Ukraine” run by unknown individuals. Gerashchenko’s public support for the site has been so strong that it led many to claim he founded it or was involved in running it. He denies this.
Back in 2016, Myrotvorets published a list of nearly 4,500 foreign and Ukrainian journalists who received press accreditation from the Russian-backed armed groups in control of parts of Donetsk Oblast. Along with the names of journalists, it published their personal information, like phone numbers and home addresses. The website claimed the journalists were “cooperating with terrorists.” Several journalists reported receiving threatening phone calls.
The leak of the list, allegedly obtained in a hacker attack on the Russian-backed militants’ computers, outraged many in Ukraine’s media community, who said it endangered reporters working in the Donbas war zone.
According to Matthew Schaaf, director of the Ukrainian office of nonprofit Freedom House, Myrotvorets’ activity — publicizing a person’s personal information, or doxxing — is a serious threat to journalists and their safety in Ukraine.
“Doxxing encourages people to take matters into their own hands against an alleged adversary,” Schaaf told the Kyiv Post. “It’s a reasonable question to ask how Anton Gerashchenko, who has been closely linked to Myrotvorets and its activities in the past, can protect the safety of journalists when he appears connected to some of the very threats against them.”
Gerashchenko’s announcement of his new role was only one of several controversial statements that representatives of Ukrainian authorities made at the freedom of speech hearing in parliament on Nov. 6.
Owners’ influence on press
Another surprising suggestion during the free speech committee hearing was the idea to sanction Ukrainian media that were not profitable for three consecutive years, because it may be a sign that they are a tool for the owner who subsidizes them.
The suggestion came from Oleksandr Tkachenko, a lawmaker in the Servant of the People party and the former head of 1+1 media, a broadcasting group owned by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Tkachenko said in a speech to parliament that this requirement is going to be included in the draft law he and other lawmakers are preparing for submission by the end of 2019.
“Ukraine may be the one country in Europe where most of the private media are unprofitable,” he said. “This creates a suspicion that the owners are influencing the journalists.”
He is sure this influence results in journalists who, under the influence of the media owners, publish fake news, disinformation and propaganda in favor of Russia.
He proposed that the media follow the principles of fair play: allow media outlets to spend just the amount of money they are able to earn in the first place. Otherwise, if a given media is unprofitable for three years in a row, the government should “implement sanctions against them,” Tkachenko said. He didn’t specify what the sanctions would be.
“This is a delicate question and discussing it is edging toward attacks on the freedom of speech. Yet still, somebody has to take responsibility,” he said. “We might end up with fewer colorful shows, fewer TV series and fewer news channels, but it will become a fair business.”
Ironically, Tkachenko ran Channel 1+1, which has been known to reflect the interests of its owner, Kolomoisky. Leaked phone conversations between Kolomoisky and Tkachenko show the oligarch giving orders to his TV channel’s CEO.
Prosecuting and defending journalists
Ukrainian Culture Minister Volodymyr Borodiansky, in turn, believes that “defending journalists and (introducing criminal) responsibility for manipulating the public consciousness” must go hand-in-hand.
He has suggested prosecuting journalists who “manipulate” as well as people who pay journalists to do it.
While Borodiansky proposed to defend journalists from pressure and punish those who leak journalists’ personal data in order to threaten them, he also wants to increase legal liability for journalists who spread misleading information. He suggested introducing criminal prosecution for publishing stories that aim to “manipulate public consciousness” and for ordering such stories.
“Journalists conduct a serious function — they are a mediator between the government and the public,” he said. “(And yet) we are in a hybrid war, which used the principle of freedom of speech to destroy democratic values. We have to defend our state and its informational area.”
