Sees violations of ban on access to “Dzirkstele” portal – Gulbene district – Dzirkstele.lv

Filips Lastovskis, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Latvian Journalists: “This is a clear disrespect for democratic values ​​and for the people for whom the local media work.”

“MAJOR VIOLATIONS – both democratic values ​​and Latvian law. Article 100 of the Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the prohibition of censorship, has been violated,” Ivonna Plaude, head of the Regional Media Association, comments on the fact that in the administration building of the municipality of Gulbene, not only employees are denied access to the internal network, but also visitors to the public Wi-Fi network for the portal of the regional newspaper “Dzirkstele”.

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We already wrote that this practice was introduced in the last convocation of the county council, when the council was headed by Normunds Audzišs (ZZS), and it continues even now, when the council is headed by Andis Caunītis (LRA).

The balance of power is deliberately disturbed

“Abusive use of power, demonstration of power poses a threat to a democratic society, because the balance of power without restricting free media is essential. Regional newspapers, local media create a balance of power in the regions, with such a decision both the former and the current city council have disrupted this balance, and this has been done deliberately,” stresses I. Plaude and calls on politicians to stop this practice.

A similar opinion is expressed by Filips Lastovskis, chairman of the board of the Association of Latvian Journalists, editor-in-chief of the “Delfi” portal. “Blocking the local media in the central municipal building is a blatant disrespect for democratic values, a blatant disrespect for the residents of the municipality, for whom the local media works. One of the most important tasks of regional media is to promote public understanding of what is happening around them and to increase people’s belonging to local communities. By blocking access to the media, which also publishes critical opinions about the council’s work, the council’s management ignores the importance of these tasks and hinders their fulfillment,” says F. Lastovskis.

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He, like I. Plaude, calls on the municipality to immediately eliminate such a mistake and restore the access of municipal employees and visitors to the content of “Dzirkstele”.

It is strange that such a thing is even possible in Latvia

“It’s strange that something like this is even possible in Latvia,” says Ingūna Johansone, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Ziemeļlatvija” (Valkas and Smiltene regions) to “Dzirkstele”.

She also emphasizes that restricting the press, denying access to a regional portal is unthinkable in a democratic society. “This must be perceived not only as a demonstration of the power of individual representatives of the local government, but also as a violation of democratic norms, freedom of speech and, therefore, the Constitution,” continues I. Johansone.

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“The question is, what to do in such a situation, if the local government is so afraid of criticism that a remedy that is “normal” only in totalitarian countries seems good? Complain in court or report to the Ministry of Environment and Local Government Affairs to organize educational courses and train county leaders about the role of the press? Democracy is not possible without independent media, in which, yes, there are not only descriptions of beautiful events, but problems are discussed and criticism expressed. The government needs to know what the people, those who voted for this government, think. Denying the opportunity to use the local portal is also a sign of weakness and at the same time creating intrigue, which will undoubtedly create an even greater desire in people to go and read what the “Zzirkstele” writes like that, if the government is so afraid of it,” comments I. Johansone.

On the other hand, the editor-in-chief of “Alūksnes und Malienas Ziņu” Sandra Apine admits that she is no longer surprised by any action on the part of municipalities. “There is real competition with the media in local governments, using all possible channels, which is absurd. This is contrary to what, at least, our municipality proclaims about business support, because a media company also runs a business in the same way as a bread or timber producer. This case of “Spark” is actually a real direct limitation of the medium. Also for the portal “Alūksnieųts. lv” was once banned by the municipality. The municipality denied municipal employees access to the “Alūksniems.lv” portal, because it was found that municipal employees were actively commenting (at that time, commenting was without registration), thus a lot of internal municipal affairs, decision-making processes, etc. became public, which started to worry the municipality. Until now, we have not received any information that something is currently restricted,” says S.Apine.