Rights groups urge Lebanon to safeguard free expression in draft media law
Proposed amendments risk curbing reforms, NGOs call for end to criminal defamation and pretrial detention
BEIRUT, Lebanon (MNTV) — Lebanese and international rights organizations have called on parliament to ensure that the country’s new draft media law protects the right to freedom of expression and strengthens media freedoms, warning that proposed amendments could undermine reform efforts.
In a joint statement, 14 groups—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists—urged lawmakers to abolish criminal defamation, blasphemy, and insult provisions, prohibit pretrial detention in speech-related cases, and remove restrictive licensing requirements for media outlets.
The appeal comes as parliament’s Administration and Justice Committee resumes debate on the draft law, originally submitted in May 2023 to replace Lebanon’s outdated Publications Law.
While earlier drafts advanced protections for media freedom, including repealing criminal defamation laws and banning prison sentences for speech-related violations, rights groups warned that new amendments circulated to MPs on August 31 reintroduced pretrial detention and criminalized insult and defamation.
“Parliament should ensure that these practices come to an end by passing a media law fully consistent with international human rights standards,” the organizations said, stressing that vague provisions risk silencing dissent and encouraging self-censorship.
Rights groups highlighted that Lebanon’s existing criminal defamation laws have often been used against journalists, activists, and critics of the government.
They warned that the proposed provisions — including penalties for vaguely defined offenses such as “infringing on individuals’ dignity or private lives” — could enable authorities to target peaceful expression.
The suggested amendments would also increase state oversight by requiring television stations to submit detailed programming schedules to the Information Ministry and National Council for Audiovisual Media, while subjecting online platforms to prior licensing rather than a notification system.
“Unless carefully designed, such licensing requirements open the door to arbitrary decisions over who can operate media outlets, threatening freedom of expression,” the statement noted.
Lebanon began discussing a new media law in 2010, after former MP Ghassan Moukheiber and the Beirut-based Maharat Foundation submitted reform proposals.
The latest version, debated since July, included key advances but has now raised concerns from watchdogs over its potential rollback of protections.
The groups urged lawmakers to make discussions public and allow broader participation to ensure transparency in shaping a law critical to safeguarding Lebanon’s fragile media environment.
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