While political debates have arisen regarding the “Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill” proposed to regulate the media sector in the Maldives, the work being done by opposition parties, especially the MDP, to create unease among the public about this bill is characterized as an effort to destabilize the country and weaken the government. However, looking at the true objectives of this bill and the important points it contains, it becomes clear that this bill is more of an important step towards building trustworthy journalism rather than restricting media freedom. In this report, we will reveal the political motives behind the MDP’s efforts against this bill, demonstrate the importance of the bill, and prove that President Dr. Muizzu does not wish to take control of the media.
Attorney General Ahmed Usham has stated that the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill is not a bill to regulate social media of ordinary citizens. This is a bill designed to regulate media outlets and those working in the media. While opposition parties claim that this bill hinders freedom of expression for citizens, the AG has revealed that this is a statement made by distorting the truth of what’s in the bill. The main objectives of this bill include preventing the spread of false news. The bill states that information known to be false or highly likely to be false should not be disclosed through any media outlet. Media outlets should not disclose information without making adequate efforts to verify its truthfulness. This is an important step to maintain media credibility and protect society from dangerous issues such as the spread of jihadist ideologies.
Just as the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, it also provides the right to protect one’s reputation. However, the issue of false news written by media outlets to defame people’s reputations has not been resolved so far. The AG notes that this bill will provide a solution to this problem. Additionally, what will be stopped by this bill is the defamation of people’s reputations and the spread of false stories through journalists’ and media outlets’ social media accounts. This is targeted only at media personnel, not ordinary citizens. These points show that the bill contains important elements needed to increase trust and responsibility in the media sector.
It is evident that the MDP’s work against the media bill is an effort to politically destabilize the country and weaken the government. The MDP has a need to weaken the current government. Especially at this time when the government has a supermajority in the People’s Majlis, it is difficult for the MDP to make political progress without taking control of the government. Therefore, it is noted that the MDP is working to spread false information to create dissatisfaction with the government among the people and to distort the truth of the bill. The Attorney General has stated that such talk is being spread without reading what’s in the bill and without knowing the truth. The AG said this is an effort to distort the truth among the people and that it is regrettable.
There is much evidence to prove that President Dr. Muizzu does not wish to take control of the media. The biggest proof is that this government has a supermajority in the People’s Majlis. With the supermajority in the Majlis, the opportunity for the government to make laws and implement policies as it wishes is very much open open. In such a situation, the government has no direct need to take control of the media. This is because there will not be much difficulty in delivering the government’s messages to the people.
Furthermore, the fact that the Attorney General’s Office has proposed 14 amendments to this bill demonstrates that the government wants a transparent, fair, and reformative bill. These amendments are efforts to resolve challenges in the bill, not hinder media freedom, and protect society from false news. And the AG’s noting that there is still opportunity to address concerns while the bill has not yet become law also shows the open policy of the government.
The Media Bill is not an effort to restrict journalists’ rights and narrow freedom of expression as the MDP claims. This is an important step to build trustworthy journalism in the media sector and protect society from false news and defamation. With President Dr. Muizzu’s government having a supermajority in the Majlis, there is not much need to take control of the media. This report proves that the MDP’s work is an effort to distort the truth of the bill and create dissatisfaction among the people in order to gain political advancement.
