On 18 September, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu ratified a new media law aimed at streamlining media regulation and seeking to curb disinformation. The law allowed the creation of a new commission with extensive powers, including the ability to block news websites, suspend media outlets’ registrations, issue fines to journalists and criminalize vague offences such as spreading fake news.
There was a huge outcry in the country against the controversial bill that critics say could muzzle the media and stifle free speech. The journalists associations pledged to defy the bill, the main opposition party called for protests against it and a global press freedom group urged Muizzu to veto the legislation. Yet Muizzu’s government, which enjoys a supermajority, was able to push the bill through parliament.
In this episode of State of Southasia, Ahmed Naish, editor of the Maldives Independent, talks to Nayantara Narayanan about the provisions of concern in the new law, including the creation of a commission that will act as a “super regulator”, the code of ethics that might be instituted for media organisations to follow and the broad and vague language of the law that might allow the government to persecute critical media outlets on flimsy grounds.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple podcasts and YouTube.
State of Southasia releases a new interview every two weeks.
Episode notes:
Ahmed Naish’s recommendations:
The Maldives: Islamic Republic, Tropical Autocracy – JJ Robinson (non-fiction)
Descent into Paradise – Daniel Bosley (non-fiction)
The Island President - John Shenk (documentary film)
Further reading from Himal’s archives:
JJ Robinson on how Mohamed Muizzu’s Maldives is “a free-for-all kleptocracy”: State of Southasia #25
Youth protests take on the Maldives’s political culture after a woman’s fall
Interview: The Maldives makes a turn with new president Mohamed Muizzu
Strains between Malé and the atolls in the Maldives
The Maldives’ ruling party is fighting itself and the opposition in the race for president