The partial or full dissemination of video images with explicit sexual character and the publication of direct links to porno sites are serious violations of the norms of journalistic ethics and professional deontological principles. This is the conclusion of the Press Council of the Republic of Moldova, which took attitude following the publication on a number of websites of videos and direct links to a porno site where there was placed a film that allegedly involved ex-Premier Vlad Filat and a woman, whose personal data were made public by the websites, at the end of October and the start of November, IPN reports.
The Press Council analyzed this case and decided that the journalists had the deontological obligation to protect the woman’s identity as she was a private individual when the video was published and wasn’t investigated within a criminal case. Asked by the Press Council to pronounce, lawyer Vadim Vieru, of “Promo-Lex” Association, said the publication of those images violated rights of the persons involved and the argument of some websites that they published only the link to the porno site is not relevant.
“Even if a criminal case of public interest is started, the woman from the image, being a private individual, is protected by the law. The prosecution service should also examine this case and this could directly notify the European Court of Human Rights as I don’t think there is place for an effective remedy at national level already,” said Vadim Vieru.
In the adopted decision, the Press Council reminds the journalists and media outlets that they have the demonological and legal obligation to obey the human rights, including the right to private life and dignity. In their professional activity, the journalists must assume responsibility to find a balance between the right to receive and the right to communicate information. Article 4.2 of the Journalist’s Deontological Code of the Republic of Moldova and other codes of good journalistic practice provide that interference in the private life is allowed only when the public interest in revealing facts prevails over the protection of the person’s image.
The Press Council also ascertained that the publication of photos and video images with explicit sexual character and of direct links to porno sites runs counter to the deontological obligation to protect the minors and violates provisions of the Law on the protection of children from the negative impact of information that bans the dissemination of information with a negative impact on children, including accessible public information that is pornographic in character.
The Press Council requested the mead outlets that took and disseminated those video images from porno sites fully or partially and published direct links to these websites and/or photos that weren’t appropriately processed to remove them and not to allow using these as sources of information in the future.
