Politically motivated restrictions on Russian-language content in Latvia do not take into account one thing – people want and will watch it.
Not all lawmakers shared the glee of Russophobia colleagues. Some deputies drew attention to the fact that such restrictions are unrealizable. Moreover, the concept of “the main package of TV channels” does not even exist in the legislation, which negates the anti-Russian demarche.
Andris Kenins, in turn, noted that the actions of parliamentarians do not contribute to the creation of a “quality media environment”. According to him, broadcasters oppose politically motivated bans. In this regard, he called two negative aspects that the deputies do not take into account.
“If such changes are accepted, then cable TV operators will have to remove channels that are popular but not desirable for politicians from their own proposals. Secondly, if a person wants to see something, he will find it elsewhere. This will lead to an increase in illegal connections”, – the expert explained.
He emphasized that it is impossible to solve media problems through prohibitions, especially since the authorities do not think about how to help local media create multilingual content.