Ukraine

[UA]: Regulator expands the list of prohibited audiovisual service providers

IRIS 2026-4:1/18

Andrei Richter

Comenius University (Bratislava)

On 26 March the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting (NCTRB), the independent media regulator in Ukraine, adopted the decision to expand the List of audiovisual media services on demand and audiovisual services of service providers of the Russian Federation, a state considered by the Ukrainian Parliament to be an aggressor state.

The List has been compiled by the media regulator since 2023, in line with Articles 90 and 123 of the statute On the Media, which entered into force the same year. These articles establish the oversight and control powers of the NCTRB and the defining features of programmes provided by the aggressor state.

The basis for the addition of the nine services to the List was the determination, established during monitoring by the regulator, that they fully or predominantly tend to serve the territory and the audience of the aggressor state. In particular, the following factors were identified:

- use of Russian as the default interface language;

- provision of access to foreign linear media, the distribution of which is restricted in the territory of Ukraine;

- distribution of programmes involving individuals included on the list of persons posing a threat to national security;

- placement and demonstration of feature films prohibited for screening in Ukraine; and

- transmission of commercials aimed at the audience of the aggressor state and promoting Russian goods and services;

The media regulator has informed the National Commission on telecom and postal services (NKEK) of its decision so that operators cease providing access to the newly listed websites.

The List of prohibited audiovisual online services currently consists of 70 services with numerous links to internet websites associated with Russia. In all cases the tendency to mainly serve the territory and the audience of the aggressor state was a factor.