site.btaTISP Leader Trifonov: In Bulgaria We Take Fabrications, Obscenities, Outright Vulgarities for Freedom of Speech

There Is Such a People (TISP) leader Slavi Trifonov reacted Saturday to the public outburst against his party's proposal for amendments to the Penal Code that would criminalize the dissemination of information about a person’s private life. He wrote on Facebook that tabloid journalism is popular in Bulgaria.

"As far as I am concerned, I will do everything in my power to ensure that such fabrications, obscenities and outright vulgarities continue to exist. Because that is how we in Bulgaria understand freedom of speech," he argued. 

On Thursday, the parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs approved at first reading amendments, proposed by There Is Such a People, which criminalize the distribution of media containing information about a person's private life without their consent. "Anyone who, through print or other mass media, electronic information systems or other means, disseminates material or other media containing information about the private life of another person without their consent, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to six years and a fine of BGN 2,000-5,000," says TISP's proposal. Information about personal life within the meaning of the law is understood to mean data about the personal relationships, family relationships, intimate relationships, or health status of a person, according to the bill.

On Friday, GERB-UDF Floor Leader Boyko Borissov said he had spoken with Trifonov and TISP will withdraw the bill "because there are texts that neither he nor we accept." GERB-UDF MPs voted in support of the amendments in the parliamentary committee but Borissov attributed that to them not reading the bill properly. Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that according to the Bulgarian Constitution, citizens’ privacy is inviolable, and the state must ensure conditions for its protection

The largest opposition parliamentary group CC-DB said that the bill introduces the possibility of using special investigative techniques against journalists, vloggers, and others for disseminating information about people's private lives, as it implies that anyone who tells the truth could face up to six years in prison, whether it's a journalist or an ordinary citizen. "The draft law does not mention defamation or slander anywhere," Co-Floor Leader Nikolay Denkov said. 

Opposition parliamentary groups MECh and Alliance for Rights and Freedoms also opposed the bill, while Vazrazhdane supported it. 

The Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria warned that the proposal could lead to unprecedented censorship. "With such legislation, Bulgaria could no longer be called a democratic and rule-of-law state. There is no democracy that sends journalists to prison for fulfilling their core duties: exposing politicians and other public figures. But in dictatorships, that’s exactly what happens - punishment for insult and defamation and the protection of privacy are used as a pretext to silence critical voices and make those in power untouchable," the AEJ statement reads. The Council for Electronic Media also said that the bill could negatively affect the media environment and freedom of speech.