“Businesses are obliged to publish content on social media in the Ukrainian language,” the language ombudsman said

Ukraine’s Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Olena Ivanovska, said that content published on business pages in social media must be in Ukrainian, regardless of whether it is advertising.

According to her, the requirements for the use of the state language in companies’ online presence are defined by the law “On Ensuring the Functioning of Ukrainian as the State Language.”

In particular, business entities are required to provide information about goods and services in Ukrainian — both in online stores and on social media.

Olena Ivanovska clarified that this rule applies to all elements of content: videos, text posts, captions, and audio accompaniment. Accordingly, even materials that are not direct advertising must be in Ukrainian or contain a full Ukrainian version.

She also stressed that business pages on social networks — including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube — must be maintained in the state language. The use of other languages is allowed, but the Ukrainian version must be no less complete in content and volume and must be displayed by default for users in Ukraine.

The language ombudsman emphasized that compliance with language legislation in the online space is a mandatory condition of consumer service and part of responsible business activity.