Kiev applies ‘arbitrary restrictions' against journalists: RSF
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Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international press freedom watchdog, has accused Ukrainian authorities of impeding impartial media coverage of the country's military war.
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Impartial media coverage of the war is undermined by Kiev.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international press freedom watchdog, has condemned Ukrainian authorities for impeding impartial media coverage of the country's military war and has demanded for journalists' access to be eased.
Read more: Russia accuses Western media of Ukraine coverage manipulation
According to the statement, "As well as risking their lives at the front line, some 9,000 or so reporters covering the war in Ukraine have difficulties gaining access to certain places and difficulties filming or taking photos, and even are occasionally detained. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns these abuses and calls on the Ukrainian authorities to eliminate these obstacles for the media."
According to RSF, in order to gain accreditation from Ukrainian authorities, local and international journalists must agree to follow specific rules related to Ukraine's national security concerns, such as not revealing the names of units and their locations, not filming military installations, and waiting several hours before reporting a missile strike. Nonetheless, "unjustified obstacles" to reliable and fair reporting remain in the field, according to journalists.
"There was always a no that came from nowhere when it came to taking photos on the front line," French photojournalist Veronique de Viguerie claimed, adding that she was also under pressure "to always present Ukrainian soldiers as victims and not as attackers" while covering the fighting in Ukraine.
Another unidentified reporter reported that Ukrainian officials saw international journalists as "influence relays rather than information vehicles."
The reporter recalled that he was detained for several hours by "local militias and then interrogated by the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] over harmless photos, although my accreditation was in order."
Guillaume Ptak, a reporter for the French daily Les Echos, was stopped multiple times at checkpoints by territorial volunteers who were unaware that the media is permitted to operate despite the curfew. Most journalists avoid taking photographs and films as they walk through checkpoints out of fear of being detained.
Legitimate restrictions based on national security concerns must be proportionate and not interfere with journalists' work, according to Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, who urged the Ukrainian government to develop precise principles governing reporting conditions and to enforce them using all available means.
This is not unsurprising given that RSF previously reported that unregulated internet material has propagated disinformation and propaganda, exacerbating political differences throughout the world, escalating international tensions, and even contributing to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
