The draft law on mass media developed by the Presidential Executive Office has been submitted to the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan. It was registered on the website of the Parliament.
The presidential office sent several versions of the draft law to the members of the working group — representatives of independent mass media. Each of them contains norms that had not been previously discussed or proposed by the members of the working group. The draft law was not finalized, coordinated and approved by all members of the working group. There was no article-by-article discussion.
None of the members of the working group — representatives of independent media — gave their final consent to the current version and did not sign the document.
The background statement states that «the geopolitical situation in the world has highlighted the key importance of the mass media in the formation of information security and dissemination of reliable information».
The document also states that the current Law on Mass Media of July 2, 1992 «is fundamentally outdated, does not meet the challenges of the time and does not fully meet the current requirements of public relations in the field of mass media.»
It should be noted that earlier, during the inventory of normative legal acts, which was conducted in the fall of 2021, it was concluded that the Law on Mass Media «does not need changes,» only minor amendments should be made.
The background statement also says that the document is being changed «in order to form social responsibility of journalists and legal culture in the media sphere».
It should be noted that experts from the Ombudsman’s Institute analyzed and detected negative consequences in case of adoption of the new law on mass media initiated by the Presidential Executive Office.
They said that the mass media in its classical sense are the main transmitter of the entire information environment of society and help the state and citizens to create an adequate and complete picture of the world.
The analysis also notes that the draft of the new media law lacks clear criteria, for which websites fall under the definition of mass media. It introduces mandatory registration without differentiating between types and specifics of activity, which may lead to broad discretionary powers of employees of the registration body.
A provision is introduced to forcibly terminate the activities of a mass media outlet for repeated violations of the law or in order to secure a lawsuit. This does not comply with the principles of objectivity and proportionality.
The possibility to apply certain parameters for Internet resources during registration (for example, such as the territory of distribution of products or the frequency of release)) is excluded.
«The draft law proposes to authorize the ministries of digital development and justice to register media outlets. At the same time, it is not clearly defined which state body a particular media outlet should apply to, depending on its specifics. In law enforcement practice this could lead to contradictions, confusion and, possibly, cases of double registration,» experts from the Ombudsman’s Institute also noted.
They emphasized that the proposed draft law does not provide for the procedure and terms for issuing written warnings to the media by government agencies. The media’s right to appeal against warnings is not established.
In the experts’ opinion, there are more effective alternative mechanisms for regulating media activities, namely:
- Expansion of rights and guarantees for journalists, including the state’s obligations to protect media representatives;
- Introduction of a voluntary registration or notification procedure, which could provide additional benefits for registered media outlets. Examples from other states show that many countries (Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA) have abandoned the registration requirement for print and online media;
- It is necessary to consolidate norms aimed at ensuring the safety of journalists operating in the area of natural disasters and emergencies.
The Ombudsman’s Institute proposes to finalize the draft law on mass media and insists on the need to ensure freedom of speech and respect for human rights and freedoms.
«It is necessary to exclude norms in the draft law that contradict universally recognized principles and international law. As a neutral independent body, we call for dialogue with all stakeholders to maximize the provision and full compliance with standards in the field of human rights and freedoms,» Ombudsperson of Kyrgyzstan Jamilya Jamanbayeva said earlier.
The Presidential Executive Office, in particular Murat Ukushev, head of the Department of Legal Support of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Presidential Executive Office and head of the working group, drafted a new law on mass media. The document was posted on the unified portal of public discussion of draft normative legal acts.
In December 2022, a working group was formed by a decree of the President Sadyr Japarov to finalize the law. However, during six months of its work only two meetings were held, and the author of the document and head of the working group Murat Ukushev attended only one of them.
