The National Expert Commission of Ukraine on the Protection of Public Morality ( uk, Національна експертна комісія України з питань захисту суспільної моралі) was a state body that from late 2004 till early 2015 operated to evaluate media to check they observed Ukrainian morality laws, which ban inciting religious hatred, producing or disseminating pornography, and propagating alcoholism and smoking. The commission was disbanded by the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

on 10 February 2015.

History

On 17 November 2004 the commission was established by then Prime Minister

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

. In December 2010 then-President Yanukovych issued a decree to eliminate the commission. In August 2012, the body gained media attention in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for reviewing allegations that popular children's properties, such as ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...

'', Disney films, ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jen ...

'', and ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'' are inappropriate for children and need to be banned. The commission was eliminated by the

on 10 February 2015. The (law that created the) body was criticised by the

Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest and most active Ukrainian human rights organizations. As a legal entity, it was established in 1992, but it has been working as a human rights protection group in the Ukrainia ...

for being dangerously open to subjective interpretation what precisely “harms public morality”. But it noted that the commission was never used to limit freedom of speech.

References

External links

Official website

Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality Sets Its Sight on SpongeBob
Censorship in Ukraine Government of Ukraine Mass media in Ukraine {{Ukraine-stub

History

See also

References

External links