The government is not going to regulate news standards, and the words in the presidential decree on "requirements and news standards" are a terminological misunderstanding, Volodymyr Borodiansky, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, has said.

"Dear journalists! You were rightly concerned and outraged over the establishment of 'requirements and news standards' in the president's decree. This is a terminological misunderstanding that arose from the false use of the term 'news standards' in the documents of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. We did not and do not intend to regulate news standards. This right exclusively belongs to the professional community," Borodiansky wrote on his Facebook page.

According to him, the authorities are going to introduce the concepts of "dangerous information," "misinformation," and "false information."

"What is very important in the conditions of an information war with the Russian Federation and the possible financing of certain media by the aggressor country. Introducing definitions of the nature of information, such as news, entertainment, humorous, etc., together with a possible obligation to designate distributed content in accordance with the type of content to which information refers. This is part of the proper informing of citizens and the exercise of their right to information," said the minister.

He noted that in countries with established democracies, where there is journalistic self-government and media self-regulation/co-regulation, the issue of standards is decided by codes of professional ethics and standards, the strict observance of which is monitored by the professional community.

"In Ukraine, we, as a state, must create conditions for the professional community that will make this model work in our country. That is, the state does not enter the territory that it should not regulate, but creates the proper conditions for self-regulation and co-regulation," he summed up.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to develop a bill on the requirements and standards of news until December 31, 2019.

Corresponding decree No. 837/2019 was published by the presidential press service on Saturday. According to the text of the document, the Cabinet of Ministers is obliged to develop and submit for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada a number of draft laws regulating the activities of media in the country.