Setback for online media sector in Jordan
The new amendments to the Press and Publications Law proposed by the Jordanian government is a significant setback for online press freedom, according to Jordanian human rights organisations
Online media will be required to register and obtain licenses from the Press and Publications Department and publishers will be held responsible for comments posted by readers under articles. The amendments are described by several human rights organisations in Jordan and by scores of demonstrating online journalists and editors to be a serious attempt by government to control and restrict the online media sector.
In a statement issued in late August by the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) in Jordan, the centre said the two draft laws contain changes that contradict Article 15 of the Constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which give citizens the right to freedom of expression.
Registration and self-censorship
Under the Press and Publications draft Law, news websites will have to choose to either be dealt with as media outlets or remain independent and act as blogs. The act of including online media under the Press and Publications Law will lead to self-censorship among sector practitioners, due to the fact that the new legislation imposes huge fines on those who violate the law, according to NCHR.
According to an article in Jordan Times, under the new draft legislation which will be sent to Parliament to be discussed and endorsed during its extraordinary session slated to start in September, online media will be required to register and obtain licences from the Press and Publications Department, although the registration fees will be lowered from JD10,000 to JD1,000.
The bill also holds online media outlets’ publishers responsible for any comments their readers post under published articles. News websites will be prohibited from publishing comments not relevant to the published article, and all comments must be archived for a period of no less than six months.
