Moldova to Require Media Providers to Screen Partners for Sanctions

Media service providers will be obliged to check whether their partners are subject to sanctions

Media service providers and distributors in the Republic of Moldova will be required to verify whether their contractual partners, content rights holders or entities providing media services are subject to international restrictive measures. These provisions are included in a draft amendment to the Audiovisual Media Services Code.

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According to the draft, approved at its third reading, verifications will be mandatory prior to the conclusion of contracts for the acquisition, licensing, retransmission or distribution of media services and broadcasting rights. These will have to be repeated whenever the applicable sanctions regime is amended.

Providers and distributors will be required to retain, for a period of five years following the termination of contractual relations, the documents proving that the checks have been carried out. The compliance file may include contracts, documents relating to rights holders and distributors, as well as information on the beneficiaries of payments.

Where it is established that a media service, content or rights holder is subject to restrictive measures applicable in the Republic of Moldova, the provider or distributor must suspend the performance of the contract without delay and cease the broadcasting, retransmission or distribution of the content in question. The Audiovisual Council must be informed of the measures taken within five working days.

The draft also extends the supervisory powers of the Audiovisual Council, which will be able to request contracts and supporting documents, information and explanations, as well as carry out thematic inspections to verify compliance with obligations.

Failure to comply with the requirements regarding verification, document retention and the suspension of the broadcast of content subject to sanctions is included in the list of offences for which the Code provides for administrative liability.

These provisions form part of a broader draft amendment to the Audiovisual Media Services Code, which Logos Press has previously reported on.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

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