New norms of the language law come into force on July 16/Collage 24 channel
Exactly one month later, on July 16, 2022, two parts of a separate article of the so-called language law will come into force in Ukraine. They regulate the use of the Ukrainian language on the Internet and in the interfaces of computer programs of goods.
We are talking about parts 2 and 6 of Article 27 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language”. Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremen explained what will change when they come into force.
New norms of the language law from July 14
The official Facebook page of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language says that from July 16, 2022, all Internet resources, in particular, websites, pages on social networks, channels on the platforms Viber, YouTube, Telegram, mobile applications etc., used as Internet representations of Ukrainian business entities, must have the main version in Ukrainian.
These pages must loadby default >in the state language for users in Ukraine. At the same time, foreign business entities that sell products in Ukraine can place less information in their Internet representations in Ukrainian than in the main version, however, sufficient for a user from Ukraine to be able to fully understand the purpose of the activity of this subject.
It should be noted that business entities that provide services to Ukrainian consumers on the Internet are required to post information about goods and services in the state language on the relevant Internet resources from January 16, 2021. However, now they are required to have a full-fledged version in Ukrainian, which should be the main one and loaded by default,” explained Taras Kremen.
In addition, from July 16, any product on which a computer program is installed (from a car to a washing machine or an electric coffee maker) must be “localized” for sale in Ukraine. That is, the interface in Ukrainian must be available on the product, regardless of whether the product has an electronic screen or a control panel with conventional buttons.
Pay attention! July 16 is a symbolic date. It was on this day in 1990 that the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine, which became the basis of the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine on August 24, 1991. In addition, on July 16, 2019, the language law itself came into force, and on the same day in 2021, a new stage in the implementation of the norms of this law began, which ensured an increase in the presence of the state language in the public space.
Punishment for non-compliance with the norms of the language law
According to the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, the lack of a version of the informational Internet resource in Ukrainian from July 16, 2022 will mean deliberate violationits owner the requirements of the law on the state language, or the fact of the absence of state registration of the media and/or the owner as a business entity. -resource to be outside the legal field of Ukraine and cause reasonable distrust of the information published on the resource, – said Kremen.By the way, among other things, from July 16 this year, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language will be able to impose a fine< /strong>for officials of state authorities and local self-government, heads and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations of all forms of ownership, as well as other individuals who will violate the language law.
We add that the amount of the fine will be from UAH 3,400 to 8,500 if the violation is detected for the first time. For a repeated violation, a fine will be imposed already in the amount of 8,500 to 11,900 hryvnia.
