Thread: Was away from work for a couple of weeks & just learnt that President @M_Farmaajo has signed the draft amendment media bill into law. Below is @amnesty’s position and thoughts on this particular law.

Positively, there are a number of progressive provisions in the law that provide for the right to freedom of expression, and media freedom, including the rights to security and access to information. The law also prohibits censorship and forced reporting.

However, the law contains some problematic provisions including several content restrictions that are vaguely worded that can be misused by authorities if interpreted in their broader meanings.

These include prohibiting reporting on issues conflicting with “national interest”, “false information”, “incitement to violence and clannism” and “dissemination of propaganda”.

These vaguely defined provisions in the media law threaten to have a chilling effect on the right to freedom of expression, as journalists would steer clear of covering stories that could subject them to the application of these provisions by the authorities.

The law in article 18 makes it mandatory for all local & freelance journalists operating in the country to be registered by a national media committee in a national register of journalists & subsequently be issued with IDs by the Ministry of Information.

This provision gives the Ministry of Information a broad mandate to regulate media & media practitioners as authorities could simply bar certain individuals from practicing their journalistic profession. Also, under international law, registration of media workers is prohibited.

The law also enables authorities at both Federal and State level to arbitrarily prosecute journalists & restrict freedom of expression & access to information as it includes legal
sanctions & a list of media crimes including the ones mentioned above which are broad and vague.

Article 5 imposes unspecified fines on journos who contravene the law, failure to which they can be sent for prosecution. This contradicts the President's 3 May commitment to decriminalize journalism as it leaves open the possibility to prosecute journalists in criminal courts.

On 8 May, @amnesty sent a private letter to Pres @M_Farmaajo sharing these concerns & urging him to decline to sign the draft law & to send it back for further review to ensure that any proposed amendments are in line with #Somalia’s constitutional & international obligations.

It is unfortunate that the President has now signed the amendments into law and missed a golden opportunity to put forward a media law that respects, protects, promotes and fulfills the right to freedom of expression in #Somalia.

End.