YEREVAN, December 10. /ARKA/. The Armenian parliament has passed today in the second and final reading a set of amendments to the law on media and a number of related laws, which determine what "unidentifiable sources" of information are and set also responsibility for media in case these sources are cited.

The opposition Hayastan (Armenia) alliance again voted against the amendments; however they were backed by 62 MPs from the ruling Civil Contract party

Artur Hovhannisyan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Pashinyan, and one of the authors of the amendments, said new platforms are being created on various social sites without identifying data, making it impossible to find out what the platform was created for and who manages it.

He said an 'unidentifiable source' is a domain, hosted site, a social media account, a telegram channel, a website or application registered on the Internet with no information about its management, or with false or incomplete information.

He added that under the changes, the media will not be exempted from liability if they cite unidentified sources or disseminate their information.

Hovhannisyan said also that under the changes, if a mass media outlet fail to submit a financial report and statutory identification data, it will be denied accreditation. According to him, there have been no discussions with the media on these amendments.

MP Taguhi Ghazaryan from the Civil Contract stressed that the amendments will not deprive people of the right to speak anonymously or under a different name, but will only equate non-identified sources with anonymous sources.

The changes had been slammed by press freedom groups, which say they will not stop the spread of fake news and disinformation.- 0-