Egyptian President takes media under the own control due to new law
Egyptian President Abdel al-Sisi will personally choose the chairman and members of the new media of the Council in accordance with the law passed on Monday, December 26th. Council has the right to fine or suspend the publication and broadcasting, as well as to give or revoke licenses to foreign media.
The law, approved by parliament and signed into law by Sisi, creates the so-called Supreme Council for the Administration of the Media whose chairman will be picked by Sisi and whose remaining members will be appointed by him based on nominations from various bodies including the judiciary and parliament.
Human rights organisations and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists have repeatedly criticised media freedoms in Egypt, which jailed the second most journalists of any country in the world in 2015, according to the CPJ.
It will also ensure fair competition between media groups as well as their independence and neutrality, adherence to journalistic ethics, and will make sure they do not compromise national security, the Official Gazette in which the law was published said.
Yehia Qalash, chief of the press syndicate, told Reuters that the law and the council were mostly concerned with administrative affairs and did not compromise media freedoms. Parliament was still debating other media legislation, he said.
A second media law will cover sentencing, freedom of information, confidentiality of sourcing and the relationship between journalism and national security, lawmakers and press syndicate members said.
The press syndicate had lobbied for a single media law encompassing all issues but parliament decided on two separate laws.
Source: Reuters.