1. The transition to digital television in the
context of human rights
Vladimir Yavorsky
Executive Director
Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union,
www.helsinki.org.ua

2. Protec'on of vulnerable and
discrimina'on (1)
During digitalization we should take into account
protection needed for vulnerable segments of society:
 poor or indigent (i.e., about 30% of the population of
Ukraine);
 people with disabilities or with special needs (e.g.,
hearing or vision defect);
 various social and public institutions (schools, hospitals,
etc.)

3. Protec'on of vulnerable and
discrimina'on (2)
In the UK, the following categories receive free Financial and
technical assistance from non‐proFit corporation "Digital.uk",
which is responsible for the transition to digital broadcasting,
and BBC:
 ‐ people older than 75 years;
 ‐ people who receive assistance because of disabilities or
who are under guardianship;
 ‐ people who are in institutions under the tutelage of more
than 6 months;
 ‐ people registered as blind or partially seeing people.
Government assistance to vulnerable people is also available
in other countries: USA, Germany, Australia, etc.

4. Protec'on of vulnerable and
discrimina'on (1)
Everyone should have available information on:
 ­ What digital TV is?
 ­ Why one should switch to digital TV?
 ­ What to do to switch to digital broadcasting?
 ­ Where to go for technical or Financial
assistance?

5. Protec'on of vulnerable and
discrimina'on (4)
 Also, special attention should be paid to the
interface of various equipment, which should be
accessible to people with disabilities. This concerns,
most of audio description to instructions for
control, choosing a language, easy navigation,
interface personalization by increasing the font
size, voice control, etc.

6. Protec'on of vulnerable and
discrimina'on (5)
 For viewers shifting to digital broadcasting means
purchasing new equipment for decoding digital signals,
consequently, they have to spend money. In order to
avoid any form of material discrimination and the risk
of "digital divide" in different social categories of
citizens, state should use a program to reduce these
negative effects through a reduction in prices for
equipment and the provision of such equipment for free
to certain groups of people.

7. Privacy protec'on
 State should take all necessary steps to protect the
privacy of citizens in the digital broadcasting, in
particular, to prohibit the illegal use of personal
information obtained through the use of
broadcasting and related online services.
 In Ukraine there are no law on personal data
protection and no related legislation that does meet
the requirements of the Council of Europe.

8. Freedom of speech
 question of transparency, argumentation, justice and non‐
discrimination in updating or obtaining licenses to broadcast
for television and radio companies;
 issues of access to the signal distribution from TV and radio:
Who owns the means of propagation, what are the rights and
responsibilities of the entity, what are the rights and
responsibilities of television and radio in relation to this
entity;
 issue of protecting local broadcasting;
 ensuring pluralism and protection from monopolization of
TV radio informational environment at the national, regional
and local levels.