Attempts being made to return banned Russian TV channels to Latvia - regulator

RIGA - Active attempts are being made to return the content of banned Russian television channels to Latvia, Ivars Abolins, chairman of the National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), said in an interview with TV3 on Friday. 

As an example, the NEPLP chairman mentioned a local businessman who has been trying to register four banned Russian TV channels as Latvian media. Abolins would not reveal the name of the businessman, saying that he did not want to advertise him. 

The regulator has also detected cases where Russian TV content has been included in some other foreign TV channels broadcast in Latvia. NEPLP is planning to decide on the issue soon.

"The attempts to bring this content back to Latvia is reality, so we need to be on alert, our monitoring center must be on alert and adjust our laws to the existing situation," said Abolins.

As reported, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NEPLP has banned numerous Russian TV channels and websites that are spreading Kremlin propaganda.