ess Council Act as threat to media freedomJune

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PrPTCIJ Media Release A consortium of four media development and media freedom organisations have opposed the proposed amendment of the Nigerian Press Council Act by the National Assembly saying the measures contained in the amendment Bill seek to make the government the arbiter of truth while subjecting the entire media sector in Nigeria to the control of the Minister of Information and Culture in violation of internationally accepted norms and standards.

The organisations, comprising the International Press Centre (IPC), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), the Centre for Media Buy Bulk SMS Service  Law and Advocacy (CMLA), and the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), outlined their objections to the measures in a “Joint Memorandum” they presented to the House of Representatives Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values at a public hearing in Abuja on the Proposed Bill for An Act to Amend the Nigerian Press Council Act.

Presented by Lanre Arogundade, IPC’s Executive Director, on their behalf, the groups said although regulation is necessary in “this age of fake news and hate speech” such regulation should not erode media independence or freedom and should not be unduly punitive, adding that the “regulator must also be free of the stranglehold of the powers that be, political or other interests, so that it can judiciously adjudicate in matters bothering on the infringement of the code of ethics of the profession of journalism.