(Credit: Reporters without Borders, screenshot)

Reporters without Borders slammed a proposed Ukrainian criminal libel law, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty reported.

The advocacy group argued that criminal libel could “threaten the very existence of independent journalism.”  The planned bill “could impose prison sentences of up to five years for defamation,” according to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.

According to the Associated Press,  if passed, criminal libel in Ukraine would be “restoring a Soviet-era practice that Ukraine abolished 11 years ago.”

Check out all our stories on Ukraine media ethics.