Stand with Somalia’s journalists and send an email to the Prime Minister of Somalia today!
A new media law that would restrict the work of journalists and undermine media freedom and access to information in Somalia is in the process of being approved by the Parliament of Somalia, reports the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). Click here to read a preliminary analysis of the text provided by Reporters Without Borders.
Send an email now to the Prime Minister of Somalia!
The Somali Minister of Information, Mustaf Sheikh Ali Dhuhulow submitted the secretively drafted document to the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday, 19 June 2014, for endorsement by the Council of Ministers prior to parliamentary approval. As of 30 June 2014, the council of ministers was expected to discuss it within the next seven days.
The draft media law curtails media freedom, and violates journalists’ right to information and therefore their ability to share information in the public interest. Its vaguely worded provisions and articles will:
- Endanger confidential sources of journalists;
- Provide more powers to the Ministry of Information to issue licences and charge unspecified fees, which could be used to force independent media to censor themselves;
- Impose a media regulatory body controlled by the Ministry of Information; and
- Discriminate against journalists working for foreign media in Somalia.
Fill in the box above right and automatically send an email to the Prime Minister of Somalia asking him not to endorse the draft repressive media law, and to send it back for honest, transparent, inclusive, participatory consultation with stakeholders in all regions of the country. Read the full text below.
