The National Audiovisual Council (CNA), which governs TV and media in Romania, has recently come under fire after it issued an order for the removal of a video in which a journalist states that the decision of the Central Electoral Bureau to eliminate pro-Russian Călin Georgescu from the presidential race is a coup d'état.
The claim was made on the Marius Tucă Show YouTube channel. A longtime presence on Romanian political talk shows, Marius Tucă routinely discusses Georgescu’s case on his channel, featuring guests such as former prime minister and current presidential hopeful Victor Ponta.
The removal of one of Tucă’s clips is part of a renewed campaign targeting online disinformation initiated by Romanian institutions after the now-cancelled presidential elections of 2024.
For its part, CNA has issued dozens of removal orders for clips that incited hatred or violence or contained severe disinformation, such as those by influencer Makaveli, according to HotNews. For example, CNA recently convened to request the removal of several TikTok videos that explicitly encouraged violence against members of the Central Electoral Bureau. Such videos, posted by supporters of Georgescu, claimed that BEC members betrayed Romanian and that they should be killed.
CNA also issued a removal order for incitement to violence after George Simion posted a video message on Facebook and TikTok, stating that "those who carried out the coup should be skinned alive in the public square." Other messages targeting journalists were also removed.
The latest removal involving Marius Tucă, however, attracted criticism from top officials like prime minister Marcel Ciolacu.
"CNA’s decision to remove opinion materials from journalists represents a deviation from democracy and from the right to free expression. Respecting the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution is mandatory for all state institutions. Opinions should not be confused with information and should never be censored,” Ciolacu said in a post on Facebook.
“Everyone is free to agree or disagree with an opinion expressed in the public space. And it is unacceptable that CNA members justify their sanctioning decisions on political opinions and personal reasons, rather than on the law!" he added, saying that CNA must "urgently revise its operating principles."
The ruling coalition’s candidate for the presidential elections, Crin Antonescu, also weighed in on the issue, saying that he supports freedom of opinion, even when he does not agree with what is being said.
"CNA asked YouTube to take down one of Tucă’s shows because of the guest’s opinions. No violence, no incitement, just an uncomfortable opinion. That is not regulation, it is censorship," Crin Antonescu stated on Friday, March 28.
A connected debate arose around Vasile Bănescu, former spokesman for the Romanian Orthodox Church and now a member of the CNA. During the council's meeting regarding Tucă, he said that “contradicting an institution in its decisions is not part of the job description of an objective journalist."
The statement attracted criticism from human rights NGO APADOR-CH, which called for the dismissal of Vasile Bănescu. The NGO accused him of "not having the most basic knowledge about freedom of expression and its limits, especially in the case of journalists."
"It is absolutely necessary for its members to be at least familiar with international regulations on freedom of expression and the role of the press, the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, and ECHR case law," APADOR-CH stated. APADOR-CH also argued that CNA’s decision to remove the video was wrong because “an opinion cannot be judged within the false-true binary, as it is a value judgment.”
In response, Vasile Bănescu said in a post on Facebook that the phrase he used during the CNA meeting was "unfortunate."
radu@romania@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Calin)
