The broadcast moratorium imposed on radio and TV stations during elections has been scrapped.
Coimisiún na Meán announced this morning the reporting restrictions would be lifted in time for the upcoming general election.
Typically, the moratorium took effect from 2pm the day before polling and meant radio stations couldn’t talk about election issues until the close of polling.
That’s being lifted and replaced with an additional care requirement – meaning stations can talk about the election, but must take extra care not to report on misinformation that could sway voters.
The media commission also asks stations not to report on opinion polls in that 24 hours before the opening of polls.
The move has been coming – the moratorium had been overtaken by online coverage on which there were no restrictions and it was largely seen as out of date.
