The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development claims that the media climate in Transnistria is restrictive and that authorities of both banks of Dniester engage in efforts to silence their respective opposition.
They include Rîbnița-based Dobry Den, Chelovek i ego prava (Man and His Rights), Novaya Gazeta from Bender, Russian Proriv!, Profsoyuznye Vesti and Glas Naroda.
However ProTV and NIT, two private channels based in Chişinău, was introduced to on most cable networks in Transnistria from September 2009 and 1 November 2007 respectively.
In August 2014, Yevgeny Shevchuk issued a decree on combating extremism that empowered the Transnistrian KGB to request the prosecutor's office to block internet content.
[9] Since 2014 government agencies, private organizations, and citizens are required to report instances of "extremist" material online.
[10] Self-censorship is practised, with local press avoiding subjects questioning the Transnistrian goal of independence or criticizing the pro-Russian foreign policy.
[7] In April, 2022, American journalist Collin Mayfield was detained by Transnistrian police before being strip searched and interrogated at the Ministry of State Security (MGB) headquarters in Tiraspol.
The case has provoked suspicions among Western officials like Louis O'Neill, the head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova.
[18] Quotes from the site: It has a free market economy, 200% growth, and a multi-party democracy with the opposition in control of parliament.
[21] A report in the Economist described it as part of a concerted online campaign to promote Transnistria through expertly produced websites, saying that its background and funding were largely undisclosed.
[14] The Radio Free Europe claims that its content was "largely dedicated to effusive praise of the government or endorsing independence",[21] while the Economist associates them with ICDISS, which it alleges is an astroturfing attempt.
Economist also names Tiraspol Times an online magazine produced "expertly, but mysteriously, in support of the authorities".
Edward Lucas, a journalist for Economist, suggested it could have received its funding either from the government, from Vladimir Antyufeyev's State Security Committee or from one of the Transnistrian companies.
[21] This claim proved to be incorrect as it was in fact owned and funded by Desmond Grant, a prominent Irish newspaper publisher.
Tom de Waal, a London-based journalist and author, was outraged to see an article under his name appear on the "Tiraspol Times" website.