Media products may be subject to examination solely for legality, the Ministry of Justice said in response to reports that “morality checks” could be implemented for media products.
When studying the matter, the Ministry of Justice found that the document adopted by the Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment together with the Agency for Information and Mass Communications, the Ministry of Culture, the Agency for Cinematography, the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and the National Media Association have outlined binding norms affecting the rights of individuals and legal entities.
"In accordance with current legislation, such legal acts of ministries and departments shall be registered with the Ministry of Justice. Non registered regulations cannot entail legal consequences," the Ministry emphasized.
"The decision to introduce “morality checks” of media products has been cancelled and revoked by the bodies that adopted this document," the Ministry of Justice added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice gave recommendations to the Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment "on the advisability of submitting analytical proposals to authorized bodies in the established manner to eliminate media products distributed in various sources, in the event of their non-compliance with current legislation."
The Center for Spirituality announced the adoption of “morality checks” in early November. After criticism from the public and representatives of the creative sphere, who perceived the project as censorship, the center stated that the expert group would only issue recommendations.
