Non-disclosure agreement – Newspaper Kommersant No. 184 (7385) dated 10/05/2022

This week, the annual Microelectronics 2022 forum started in Sochi, which has been held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade since 2015. For the industry and specialized media, this is a landmark event, more than 500 enterprises participate in it, deals are made, problems and prospects for the development of the market are discussed, journalists communicate with newsmakers. So, in particular, Kommersant learned the news about the change of shareholders in Baikal Electronics in 2020 at this forum. But this year I had to miss the event, and the news from the forum does not come out. Sometimes information publishes only the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The fact is that this year, for the first time, when applying for accreditation, the organizers ask any correspondent to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) received at the forum. All journalists were asked to agree on texts, photos and videos five days before publication, while the agreement is valid for three years.

The lawyers I consulted explained that the NDA was written in such a way that it formally only affected the information I received from the organizers of the forum, and not from its participants, otherwise such an agreement would have to be signed with all 500 enterprises. But even taking into account this condition, signing an NDA does not exclude risks, lawyers admit. And judging by the lack of news from the forum, none of the journalists dared to take risks.

In a situation of sanctions pressure, the desire of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to protect the companies under their care from the dissemination of potentially sensitive information is quite justified. A number of processor developers and computer equipment manufacturers are already included in the sanctions lists. Information about new transactions can indeed provoke sanctions against those companies that are not yet under them, and worsen the position of those under sanctions. Nobody argues with this.

However, as a journalist, I have two questions in connection with the policy of non-disclosure. Firstly, how to write about an industry that, in terms of the level of information availability, is striving for the defense industry, and in terms of importance for the entire modern economy, it seems to be going to surpass oil and gas? Let’s say the answer to this question is no. Time is like that. The industry exists, but there is no news about it. Not allowed. And the reader will understand this. But this immediately raises question number two.

After all, the niche that will be vacated by the media, publishing information that they are at least obliged to verify, will immediately be occupied by much less responsible carriers. And lists of allegedly strategic microelectronics companies whose employees need a reprieve from partial mobilization will go for a walk on Telegram channels. Isn’t this more harmful to the industry than news from the forum?