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Ukraine's parliament has put a controversial draft law back on its agenda that would sharply increase criminal punishment for disclosing information from state registers — a move journalists and press-freedom groups warn could be used to prosecute investigative reporters and their sources and to block anti-corruption investigations.
The Verkhovna Rada included draft law No. 10242 in this week's agenda, according to a report on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The bill would strengthen criminal liability for the illegal dissemination of information from state registers, with illegal receipt or publication of details such as officials' cars, apartments and other property carrying up to eight years in prison during martial law. The exact penalty would depend on the final version of the bill and the circumstances of the offence.
Critics fear the bill would complicate the work of journalists who use register data to expose corruption, undeclared assets of officials and possible conflicts of interest. Particular concern has been raised about sources: investigators who obtain information from restricted databases and use it in stories of public importance could face additional risk, and the bill provides no protection mechanism for those who disclose confidential information of public interest.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a Holos deputy and chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, said the bill was put on the agenda without consultations, despite his committee submitting a list of editors and media experts to be proposed as advisers at the meeting. "The majority representatives did not respond to our proposal, as the Committee on Freedom of Speech, to hold consultations with journalists and media experts," he said. "By doing so, they implicitly confirmed that the draft bill is only needed to make investigators unable to ask uncomfortable questions about abuses of authority."
The bill is not new. On December 2, 2024, the Media Movement and Ukrainian media and human-rights organisations called on deputies not to support draft law No. 10242 in its current version, warning it creates a tool that may be exploited to persecute journalists, including through wiretapping and surveillance. The Rada failed to adopt the bill on December 4, 2024, and the groups repeated their call on December 17, 2024. The International Press Institute also urged parliament in December 2024 to reject the bill, noting it foresaw no exception for publication in the public interest.
Supporters of tighter register rules have argued the changes are needed as part of European integration and to protect confidential information. Critics dispute that argument, saying stronger liability for work with registers should not limit the ability to expose corruption.