Latvia imposed a ban on the Russian language: public broadcasting company content was restricted

The Latvian Saeima (parliament) has banned the country's public broadcasting company LSM from regularly producing content in Russian. The relevant law was adopted on October 1 and will come into force on January 1, 2027.

 

55 deputies supported the draft law, while 24 voted against it. According to the new procedure, information in Russian may be disseminated only in certain cases, including emergencies, refuting disinformation, or in a "special situation."

 

According to LSM, emergencies include situations related to a crisis in a specific sector, a disaster, or the threat thereof. A "special situation" may be declared when an external threat to the country arises or internal unrest begins that poses a danger to the democratic state system.

 

Additionally, if information is assessed as misleading, false, or posing a threat to democracy and the Latvian state, it may be refuted in Russian. In doing so, media outlets must take into account the scope and nature of the threat to state security.

 

It is noted that previously Latvia's public media was required to produce content in the languages of national minorities. On March 30, 2026, the Constitutional Court of Latvia stated that the Russian language is sufficiently available in local media and that the state is not obliged to support it.

 

The deputies who supported the law emphasized that this change would serve to strengthen the position of the Latvian language in the media environment.

 

Opposition deputy Svetlana Chulkova, however, stated that the banning of Russian-language content could direct the Russian-speaking population in Latvia toward other sources, including Russian media banned in Latvia and various internet platforms.