4 international media organizations have asked the government to withdraw from the media bills that were proposed by the government on December 17. The government has proposed 2 draft laws which aim to regulate the media in two aspects: online media recording and its ethics.
The "Council of Ethics" as part of the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) will judge whether or not a news item violates "public morals". This council will receive complaints from citizens affected by online media and will fine online media from 100 thousand to 1 million lek in case it judges that this media has violated some ethical principles described in article 33/1, as well as with fine in the amount of 800 lek in case he refuses the order of the Ethics Council to publish a refutation or clarification.
The proposals suggest that every online media must be registered with the National Business Center otherwise it will be closed by the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) and every media must implement the principle of reporting the news or any media product with impartiality and objectivity and the realization of this proposal has been entrusted to the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) through a special body that will be called the "Council of Ethics".
The chairman of AMA, Gentian Sala, said during the presentation of the draft law that this draft law was drafted outside the institution he leads and that the draft law assigns him the duty of supervision and taking measures regarding the implementation of ethics and that he did not have a position regarding this occasion.
Today, through an open letter to Prime Minister Rama and Minister of Justice Etilda Gjoni, several international organizations that focus on media freedom and journalists reacted to these two proposed bills, demanding that the government withdraw from this initiative.
In the letter sent byReporters Without Borders, European Federation of Journalists, European Center for Freedom of the Media and the Press and "Pen International" it is said that this government initiative goes against the best practices and recommendations of the OSCE and causes great concern for these organizations.
#Albania - Joint-letter to PM Edi Rama: We request the Albanian government to drop the initiative on amendment of media laws currently being discussed as it raises serious #mediafreedom concerns!https://t.co/1fqP0ifl5G pic.twitter.com/LWrCk5Yehl
— ECPMF (@ECPMF) December 26, 2018
"If the proposed draft laws are approved by the parliament, they will seriously damage the free circulation of information and will have a hindering effect on the internet media and will limit the right of Albanian citizens to access information," it is said in the letter.
Also, it was pointed out the fact that no journalists, media or civil society were present for the implementation of these draft laws and their drafting was done behind closed doors.
"We ask you to immediately stop the initiative to amend these two draft laws and involve journalists, civil society, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the European Union and the Council of Europe in any initiative that affects freedom of expression, the media and journalists," it is said at the end of the letter.
Koloredo Cukali, Chairman of the Media Council invited to the Top Talk show on December 24 stated that Albania does not need an anti-defamation package that forces portals to register with AKEP and AMA to supervise the correctness of information.
"It is a regressive law in its own spirit, the solution is self-regulation. This draft is torn up and thrown away, as it is not a European draft, but a Chinese one. The government should not come to close the portals, it is a process that is left to the journalists themselves, who will gradually come together to do self-regulation." he said.
He then tore up the bill in the studio, calling the government's initiative censorship.
Citizens Channel
