Latvian parliament limits Russian-language content at public media

Latvia’s parliament has ruled that Russian-language content at Latvian Public Media (LSM) may be produced only during an emergency or state of exception, or to counter harmful disinformation. The decision was made on Thursday, LSM reported.

Fifty-five lawmakers voted in favour and 24 against. The law allows targeted responses to misleading or false information that threatens democracy and Latvia. In doing so, LSM must consider the nature and intensity of any threat to national security and follow the principle of proportionality.

Latvian Television and Latvian Radio do not broadcast in Russian. The LSM.lv portal operates as a unified news platform in Latvian, with content also available in English, Ukrainian and Russian. LSM has reached audiences in Latvia and the region in Russian through social media, and its Russian-language service runs the public media outlet’s YouTube channel with the most subscribers.

The newly established LSM Latgale newsroom had regional Russian speakers among its target audiences, producing specialised and adapted content for them from early 2026.

Public media had previously been required to produce programmes in minority languages. But after the Constitutional Court ruled that LSM content should primarily be in Latvian and that Russian was sufficiently represented in Latvia’s media, lawmakers amended the law. The court also said the state should support other minority languages that are not sufficiently represented.