The United States Department of State included the National Telethon News in a report on human rights violations in Ukraine.
This information was reported in the report for 2023, URA-Inform reports.
In particular, the 2023 report notes that President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree introducing martial law in February 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which allowed for further restrictions on the media and media freedom .
According to the State Department, the telethon adheres to a clear government line in covering events at the front. In addition, as noted in the document, «the government banned/blocked/imposed sanctions against media outlets and individual journalists who were considered a threat to national security or who expressed positions that, according to the authorities, undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country».
«Some speakers who criticized the government were also blacklisted by the government news programs. Investigative journalists critical of the government were sometimes the target of negative social media campaigns, sometimes through government-friendly channels. Other practices continued to impact media freedom, including self-censorship», — the report says.
Recall that it was previously reported whether human rights are being violated in Ukraine: the State Department told what is wrong in the country.