Information Security Does Not Mean Censorship

On October 2 the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) issued a statement on the need for urgent measures to protect the nation’s information security. Fraction leader Oleksandr Zinchenko expressed his desire on behalf of SDPU(o) deputies to request the President of Ukraine consider the problem of information security. Mr. Zinchenko said that Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers, when drafting the 2002 state budget, could well include costs “to enlist the services of scientists and specialists to address this pressing problem.” He reminded his listeners that the SDPU(o) made a similar statement about information security two weeks ago. Then the mass media “interpreted this problem as a dispute about the possibility to distinguish between pornography and erotica and about who will set the criteria for evaluation.” Mr. Zinchenko stressed that in the aftermath of the tragic events in the USA stern measures were taken to cap televised programs and movies with scenes of violence and cruelty, reports UNIAN. However, he stressed, no one is talking about infringing on the freedom of expression and introducing new institutions of censorship. He stressed the necessity of an effective system of protecting the national interests, including our information security. Mr. Zinchenko believes that Ukraine has considerable potential to make headway in this direction. Thus, in 2001 Ukrainian television channels entered foreign markets. And if formerly “our various programs and projects were competing, now whole television channels do,” he stressed.