The Council of Media Ethics of the Republic of Latvia assessed the image of Ukrainian defenders in the form of pigs

In assessing the specific publication of a comic strip dedicated to the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the Ethics Council recognized that from the very beginning the choice of pigs as characters in the comic was a risky decision, since in Latvian and many other cultures this image has a controversial, mostly negative assessment. True, there are exceptions to this rule, for example, with the appearance of the “Pig Man” (Cūkmens) as a popular ecologist, in Latvia the image of a pig also showed positive meanings.

The Council recognizes that comics and cartoons as a genre have traditionally had a higher level of tolerance – comics are allowed to provoke and be satirical. Since the artist and the editors of lsm.lv admitted that provocation was not the goal, the council concludes that the provocation and insult occurred unintentionally and inappropriately, and considers this to be a consequence of negligence and insensitivity.

“Although the creative freedom of the artist is undeniable, the editor’s duty is to take into account the times in which we live, the contexts of use of the publication and the fact that a message, dressed in contradictory images on such a sensitive topic as the defenders of Ukraine, will be perceived incompletely or even contrary to what conceived by the author,” representatives of the council believe.

The Council believes that such incidents serve as a reminder that media rights come with responsibilities, and hopes that the debate generated by this event will do more good than harm caused by the publication.