The Independent Media Commission (IMC) invites all licensees to commit for contributing professionally to the coverage of the General Election campaign of February 14, 2021, given the importance of fair and impartial reporting influencing directly the strengthening of democracy in our country.

Until the end of the election process, the IMC urges the licensees to:

• engage in educating voters to exercise their democratic rights;
• provide opportunities for the public to present their concerns, opinions and needs to representatives of political parties and provide opportunities for interactivity;
• report fairly and impartially on developments in the electoral process;
• provide opportunities for the promotion of political platforms of political parties in the race, through various forms of programs;
• be careful about the language used in program contents and take appropriate action to avoid using inappropriate, offensive or hate speech in all broadcast programs.

The IMC instructs the licensees to ensure that the broadcasted content complies with the Code of Ethics for Audiovisual Media Service Providers, respecting ethical principles, protection of dignity and human rights. We also invite all licensees to act in full compliance with the Law on General Elections, the Law and bylaws of the IMC, in particular, on fulfilling the obligations foreseen by the legal framework.

With regard to political advertising, licensees must comply with applicable law, in particular as regards their content, duration, identification (with or without payment), including the name of the organization or individual responsible for it. Also, Content Providers should be careful in adhering to the Code of Ethics, by not including children in political promotional spots.

In order to avoid any negative impact on the electoral process, it is important that licensees remain vigilant during electoral silence, especially during live broadcasting program, where there is a possibility of misuse of space provided by either candidates, political entities or participants in programs, that day to call or promote any political party.

Therefore, in this extraordinary election process, we urged all licensees not to be influenced by political parties or individuals, which would damage the electoral process, a process which is very important for all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo.

INDEPENDENT MEDIA COMMISSION