New Media- Its impact on broadcastingThe perspectives of National Regulatory
Authorities
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COORDINATING COUNCIL OF AUDIOVISUAL
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
The 4th Annual Meeting of BRAF
5-6 September 2013
Kiev, Ukraine
The Internet in the Republic of Moldova
Regulation of the on-line audiovisual content
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 The Internet and mobile platforms are only subject to regulation in Moldova
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when it comes to general provisions that apply to all types of news/content
delivery.
The Criminal Code, the Civil Code, the Law on Freedom of Expression, the Law
on the Protection of Personal Data, and special laws referring to protection
from extremism or terrorism do not differentiate between the means of
distribution of information.
Article 20, the paragraph 3 of the Law on Electronic Communications requires
the site owners to provide the IP addresses of visitors upon the request of
law enforcement authorities (the law does not specify a concrete institution).
This provision of the Law allows the authorities to find and, consequently,
arrest any person that has placed posts, which are deemed illegal
according to the Moldovan legislation (e.g. hate speech, instigation to
violence).
The Coordinating Council of Audiovisual does not regulate the Internet
and the on-line audiovisual content.
Online
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 At the end of 2012 there were around 1,543,700 Internet
users in Moldova, with the overall population of 3,559,500
this means that the penetration level is 43%.
 The new media has started developing intensely in Moldova
during recent years. Despite this, the Internet is the main
source of information for 15 % of the population and is
considered the most reliable source of information.
 The number of Internet users continues to increase
rapidly. According to a survey elaborated in April 2013, 42%
of the population uses the internet on a daily basis.
About Internet
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 The broadband Internet penetration reported to 100 users
accounted in April 2013 to 48 %, while the dial-up connections
reduced and reached only 3% (the tendency is explained by the
increasing number of services of high speed Internet access).
 In 2012 there were 53 registered ISPs in the country with the
majority being local or regional, with only a few offering their
services throughout the country.
 Moldtelecom
and StarNet are the country's leading providers
sharing around 88% of the market. The remaining 12% are shared
between other ISPs like Orange Moldova, SunCommunications,
Arax Communications, IDC, Moldcell and others.
 Dial-Up is available throughout the country and is provided by
Moldtelecom.
Wi-Fi Internet
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 StarNet
has the largest metropolitan Wi-Fi
network in the country. Coverage area includes most of
the central streets in Chişinău and residential districts as
well as parks and other public recreational places. The
company offers paid and free access to its network, free
access having limitations on time of use.
 Orange has the second largest metropolitan Wi-Fi
network in the country. Coverage area includes most of
Chişinău's mass transit areas and buss stops. Network
access is limited to Orange subscribers only.
 Aside from StarNet and Orange there are many other
local free Wi-Fi networks hosted by cafés, shops and fast
food restaurants.
New media
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 The process of ‘iReporting’ became popular in Moldova, as media consumers were
offered a chance to record audio or video and post it on the internet,
delivering potentially top news to television channels, radio stations, or print media
in Moldova. At the same time, audiovisual content on the internet enhanced the
appeal of blogging as a source of news.
 The intense development of new media technologies has lead to a rapid increase
and activism of Moldovan bloggers.
 The blogging community maintains its own webpage –Blogosfera.md (has around
2000 blogs registered) and a Facebook page (which numbers around 400
members) and Twitter account.
 The Moldovan bloggers also initiated a blogging competition -Blogovăţ – which
aims to create an alternative space of free expression, discussion and cooperation.
 A popular news portal also developed and upholds its own networks of blogs –
UNIMEDIA.info, which hosts blogs of journalists, politicians and civil society
representatives.
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Many journalists also maintain popular blogs that often become a source of public
information alongside the traditional media outlets.
News in Social Media
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 According to the Moldova Blogger Survey, the most popular are
personal blogs (74 percent), media blogs (27 percent), and
information technology blogs (23 percent). The same survey shows
that half of the respondents believe blogs to be as reliable as the press
(50 percent) or even more reliable than the press (38 percent).
 The Romanian language is predominant in writing and administrating
blogs (about 70 percent), followed by English (15 percent), and then
Russian (10 percent). As for the main sources of information for
writing blogs, most of the authors rely on their own knowledge (83
percent), other websites (56 percent), research and surveys (45
percent), and the media (39 percent).
Online media
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Agenda.md provides an online calendar on
events taking place in Moldova or involving
Moldovan citizens abroad.
Communicate.md is an online platform
specialised in distributing press releases of
public institutions, organizations and
political parties.
Europa.md is an online portal dedicated
since 2006 to promoting news and
information regarding European Integration
of Moldova and EU affairs.
Jurnal TV is an internet TV channel (news
oriented), part of the network of Jurnal Trust
Media.
Moldova.org was launched in 1997 and
remains an independent portal that provides
Moldova's and international news and
information.
Moldova Azi was initiated in 2001 as a
project of the Independent Journalism
Centre.
Publika TV
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Privesc.eu is a portal of online
transmissions developed in 2009 by a team
of volunteers. It provides free online nonmoderated broadcasts from the most
important events in Moldova.
Stireazilei.md
Stiri.md
TheNews.md is specialised in economic
and business journalism.
Unimedia is a very popular online news
portal. In December 2009 it signed a deal of
partnership with the Romanian
Group Realitatea-Catavencu. ВЕСТИ is an
online news portal in Russian, which is also
administered by the same owners as
Unimedia - New Media Group.
Yam News appeared in 2004 as the first
online automatic news aggregator and
processor in Moldova. It monitors
information from many popular websites in
3 languages (Romanian, Russian and
English).
Thank You
for your attention!
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