RBC TV. LIVE: OCTOBER 8.

ELENA GLADYSHEVA, MANAGING PARTNER OF RI-CONSULTING. BUSINESSES WILL GO TO COURT OVER THE MISINTERPRETATION OF THE WORDS OF THE HEAD OF ROSPOTREBNADZOR IN THE MEDIA

Concert organizers and ticket sellers in Russia suffered enormous losses due to the way the media presented the words of Anna Popova, Head of Rospotrebnadzor, about the cancellation of all mass events. "The explanations given by the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova were misinterpreted by a number of media outlets, first and foremost by RIA Novosti, to which many mass media outlets referred. The publications came out with 'clickbait' headlines that caused a decline and halt in ticket sales for many events, as well as stress and panic among the audience. The Association of Concert and Theater and Ticketing Organizations told RBC.

According to the association, despite the denial of information by many media, the organizers in various regions of Russia "received a barrage of calls from viewers and partners regarding the hypothetical cancellation of all mass events. "Even after the publication of denials in the program "Morning Russia" on the channel "Russia 1", the information about the "cancellation of all mass events" came out. Repeated information prevents artists from entering advertising and sales with new projects - the audience simply does not believe them," they explained there.

So, according to calculations of 47 largest companies - members of the association - the amount of losses in the whole industry as a result of throwing in false information amounted to about 100 million rubles. "In this regard, the Association of Concert starts legal and claim work to recover losses," - they concluded.

RBC asked Elena Gladysheva, Advocate and Managing Partner of RI-Consulting, for explanations on what the judicial practice in Russia is for the compensation of this kind of losses and whether there is any chance of proving lost profits. What is the foreign experience - how does something like this work there and can (and should) be applied in Russia?

Advocate Elena Gladysheva: "In this case, of course, the officials who make certain comments should be as careful as possible in what they say, because the media is really only quoting. The question for the media is only one thing, that the headline sounds very bright, but the explanations in the text are completely different, so the responsibility should be distributed a little, but in the first place, of course, the one who makes the relevant statements should be held responsible.

As for the intention to file a claim for lost profits - this is quite a complicated issue, and the question is how colleagues will prove lost profits, because I think they are unlikely to find direct evidence and direct statements from the refused consumers that they heard this quote and therefore they refuse this concert (most likely there were simply refunds by virtue of the law and, accordingly, the rules for the return of previously purchased tickets). So, whether the damages here will be recovered or not is hard to say, based on general court practice, I would say: probably no, rather than yes.

What about future periods, is it worth introducing some new rules and regulations? The answer is that it is really time to introduce real responsibility of all participants in this process, from the source to subsequent comments, in order to be as accurate as possible. I've studied all the publications beforehand, I've looked at how the news sounds. Let's just say I have a two-fold attitude, you can interpret this in different ways: as a stated news item or any quote, as, say, Ms. Anna Popova said actually live on air.