"A bill that critics say could muzzle free speech and the media has sparked an outcry in the Maldives after the government of President Mohamed Muizzu pushed it through parliament, where it enjoys a supermajority. A prominent union of journalists pledged on Wednesday to defy the bill, while the main opposition party called for protests and a global press freedom group urged Muizzu to veto the legislation."
"The Maldivian parliament has passed a draconian bill that seeks to muzzle dissent online and offline, both on traditional media and social media, said Ahmed Naaif, the secretary general of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), the country's biggest union of media workers. We journalists will stand together in defiance against this takeover of the media by the executive branch, he told Al Jazeera."
"Muizzu's government, however, says the legislation, known as the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill, only seeks to create a unified body to oversee broadcast and online media and to safeguard the constitutional right to freedom of expression. Personal social media accounts used in a private capacity are not regulated under this legislation, Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel said in a statement on X."
The Maldivian parliament passed the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill with a supermajority. The bill creates a unified body to oversee broadcast and online media and aims to safeguard freedom of expression while excluding private personal social media accounts from regulation, the government says. The Maldives Journalists Association and the main opposition party say the law will muzzle dissent and media online and offline and have pledged defiance and protests. Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel said the law will set standards, a code of conduct, and address misinformation, disinformation and coordinated content manipulation. The move heightened political tensions after recent judicial overhauls.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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