Harsh regulations, overregulation risk media freedom

SOURCE: AFROBAROMETER

What you need to know:

  • One of the offending clauses in the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Bill orders fines of Sh500,000 or a two-year jail term or both for anyone “who publishes false or scandalous libel on Parliament, its committees or proceedings.”
  • Africans overwhelmingly support an independent media that holds government accountable, according to the report.

Harsh and unnecessary State regulations are undermining freedom of the media in Kenya, journalism watchdogs and media owners say.

As journalists across the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day, the Media Owners Association is sounding the alarm over a continuing assault on media freedom in Kenya, citing over-regulation by State agencies and enactment of laws that shrink media space.

“An increased and adverse regulatory environment and duplication of oversight by government agencies has resulted in the infringement of the freedom of the Press and expression,” the association's chairman, Mr Hanningtone Gaya, said in a statement.

Last August, Parliament enacted laws that curtailed media freedom. One of the offending clauses in the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Bill orders fines of Sh500,000 or a two-year jail term or both for anyone “who publishes false or scandalous libel on Parliament, its committees or proceedings.”

WORST VIOLATORS

The Bill also bars journalists from “speaking words defamatory of Parliament, its committees or its proceedings."

The Media Council of Kenya, which regulates journalism in the country, has also taken issue with the Kenya Film and Classification Board, saying it has no mandate to regulate television content.

Earlier this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Kenya was among the worst violators of media freedom in the region. A report by think tank Afrobarometer, also released this year, found that global press freedom has declined to its lowest point in 12 years.

“If a free press is a pillar of a free society, Africa marks World Press Freedom Day 2016 amid growing concerns that this pillar is under attack by governments determined to silence critics,” it notes.

But amid all this, the report also notes that there is “strong public support for the ‘watchdog role’ that the media plays.” Africans overwhelmingly support an independent media that holds government accountable, according to the report.

“Many people see the media as effective in revealing government mistakes and corruption, and affirm that journalists “rarely” or “never” abuse their freedom by publishing lies,” reads the report in part.

HARMFUL TO SOCIETY

However, views on the media’s role and performance vary widely by country and demographic group, and substantial proportions of the continent’s population believe that governments should have the right to restrict “harmful” reporting and that the media “often” or “always” abuses its freedom by publishing lies.

In Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire, more than two thirds of respondents said the media published lies.

Titled “Strong public support for ‘watchdog’ role backs African news media under attack,” the report is based on nearly 54,000 interviews in 36 African countries in 2014/2015.

According to the report, more than half of Africans (54 per cent) say the news media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control, while 42 per cent say governments should have the right to prevent publications that it "considers harmful to society."

More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of Africans surveyed say the news media should constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption. The exception was Egypt, where only 46 per cent agreed.

While 51 per cent of respondents said the media "rarely" or "never" abuses its freedom by publishing lies, more than a third, or 36 per cent, said it does so "often" or "always. In Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire, more than two thirds of respondents said the media published lies.