Baltic States – CIS, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Technology

The signal encryption was removed at the beginning of this past April, and most likely, it was due to the fact that Ukraine had ceased broadcasting of Russian television in the country. Thus, Russia made an attempt to maintain its influence over the mass media in Ukraine and other countries, by decoding their television channels.

Any Latvian resident, who possesses the appropriate technical possibilities, can receive the decoded signals and gain access to 22 Russian government-friendly television channels. Muuls said that he warned the National Electronic Mass Media Council in time, unfortunately, no reply was received. At the same time, he admitted that it is practically impossible to act against this measure in Latvia.

Muuls criticized the National Electronic Mass Media Council's decision to impose a three-month broadcasting ban on the "RTR Rossia" channel. He believes that a more effective method would have been to impose a ban for seven or even three days, which would significantly hinder the television company's advertising activities. The current long-term ban, on the other hand, has led to viewers to seek alternative solutions.