His Majesty issued earlier this week a royal decree promulgating a new Media Law that overhauls the legal framework for the dissemination of media through all mediums including newspapers, radio and TV channels, cinemas, and physical artwork and medium, setting unified rules for all forms of media irrespective of the platform.
Oman historically had three laws governing media: The Printed Material and Publishing Law of 1984, the Law on the Censorship of Artistic Works of 1997, and the Law of Private Radio and Television Establishments of 2004 Each one of these laws was a standalone legal framework for regulating newspapers, books, and other printed materials; for regulating audio, visual, and audiovisual works such as paintings and films; and for regulating radio and tv stations. These laws established content standards and prohibitions that differ from each other, which made sense at the time due to the clear distinction between printed material and audio and visual works, but did not make sense in the age of the internet where it becomes difficult to separate written content from audiovisual content.
The new law repeals all of the previously mentioned laws and applies the same rules to all media activities carried out in the state. It also sets the controls for practising media activities, determines the rights and obligations of media professionals, and provides specific provisions for the right of reply and correction.
However, the basic framework through which those operating in the media industry work remains the same as the old system. It is still required to obtain a licence from the Ministry of Information to carry out any media activity, including the operation of a news account on social media, it is still required to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Information before importing any audiovisual work into the country, and it is required to deposit a copy of any printed material (outside periodic publications) with the Ministry of Information, even though the details for this last item will be detailed in full in the regulation.
In regard to substantive changes to the old law, the most problematic aspect of these old laws, and in particular the Printed Material and Publishing Law of 1984, was the wide scale of the content prohibitions imposed by these laws, such as the prohibition of publishing any content contrary to public morals, violates Omani traditions and customs, prejudices the Sultan or members of the royal family, harm the national currency, or questions the market or the economic situation of the country, along with other widely worded non-defined concepts. Many people believe these provisions have directly contributed to the culture of self-censorship in the Omani press. Futhermore, the international community has recommended to the Omani government, through the Universal Periodic Review process and others, that these provisions must be revised to align Omani laws with the international standards for freedom of expression.
The new law removed almost all the prohibitions that were provided in the Printed Material and Publications Law such as those relating to content that prejudices the Sultan, the currency, the economy, etc. The law now only provides a very small list of prohibited content in article 4 that relates to publishing advertisements that are contrary to public morals or mislead the public, reports on investigations and trials, and matters specifically prohibited by orders by the Ministry of Information. The ministry can in theory use this last item as a ground to prohibit anything it wishes to prohibit, but such a decision can in theory be challenged in the courts.
There is no doubt that repealing these prohibitions is a positive move for freedom of expression, but it also must be acknowledged that many of these prohibitions were transplanted in recent years into other laws. The most obvious of these laws is the Telecommunications Law which makes it a crime punishable with imprisonment for up to one year for anyone who uses any means of communication to send a message contrary to public order or public morals, which can be an easy law to use to hold a journalist criminally liable for information they publish on an internet website.
It is also worth noting that in regard to the reporting of investigations and trials the new Media Law introduces more stringent restrictions than the previous law, which used to be limited to personal status cases (due to their sensitive and personal nature), but now is a complete prohibition on reporting on any investigation or court trial irrespective of the subject, which clearly goes against the principle of open justice recognised by article 80 of the Basic Statute of the State.
The law also introduces new restrictions on the ability of media companies to receive funds from third parties under article 5 of the new law and restrictions under article 23 of the new law on the ability of media professionals to obtain money from personal media-related activities (for example, obtaining sponsorship payments for their personal social media activities) without first obtaining the approval of their employer.
These are merely some of the new changes in the new law, and there are many other substantive changes, including an obligation on all media companies to publish any official statements requested by the government, an obligation on government entities to comply with the law and notify the Ministry of Information of the details of employees carrying out media related activities, new restrictions on the ability of the Ministry of Information to suspend licences for more than 7 days without a court order, and many more.
The new Media Law enters into force on Monday next week. You can read it in full in English on the link below: