Latvia - May 2026

On 27 May, a parliamentary committee approved amendments to the Law on Public Electronic Media and their Management that would revise provisions on minority-language content in Latvia's public broadcaster following a March Constitutional Court ruling that found the existing framework unconstitutional. The Court declared existing minority-language requirements for public media void and argued that Russian-language content is already widely available through commercial media. The proposed reforms reflect a broader shift in media policy since the adoption of Latvia’s 2023 National Security Concept, which called for strengthening a common Latvian-language information space and reducing reliance on Russian-language information ecosystems.  Media-freedom watchdogs have warned that reducing Russian-language public-service content could limit access to reliable information for Latvia’s sizeable Russian-speaking population. Parliament has until May 2027 to revise the legal framework.

Sources: IFJ, Constitutional Court, LSM (1), LSM (2)