A region gagged by law

REPORTERS in the Philippines light candles during a commemoration for the Ampatuan Massacre, the single deadliest attack on journalists in the world. Thirty-two media workers and reporters were murdered in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao | Photo by Julius D. Mariveles

AS the world marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2015, we are publishing this overview of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) on the situation of press freedom in the region originally published on its website with the same title on May 3, 2015.

RULES imposed on journalists, media and free expression form the distinct highlight in the situation in Southeast Asia in 2015. Most countries in the region, with a few exceptions, largely stayed put with regards to their situation of press freedom and freedom of expression, with the same prevailing issues of media restriction, control and violence in varying degrees in each country.

The exceptions to this trend are not positive developments, with three countries experiencing serious setbacks in media freedom and freedom of expression.

The big news of the year is about Thailand, and how the country turned around from having a relatively free press to being one of the most restricted in terms of media and public expression. The military junta that took power in the 22 May 2014 coup d’etat has imposed strict bans on media, public and online criticism of government while it overhauls the political system before calling for elections in 2016. Generally, media and citizens have learned to keep within the rules after hundreds were ‘invited’ the the military for ‘attitude adjustment’ – euphemisms for summons and detention. Or maybe, people are just biding their time.

Burma, officially known as Myanmar, continued and intensified last year trend of deterioration in its new found media freedom. From jailing individual journalists in 2013, the government has now taken action against publications and collective actions of journalists by using security and criminal defamation laws.

Veteran journalist Ed Lingao on the field in Afghanistan

Press Laws

Seven out of eleven countries in Southeast Asia have press laws – or laws that oversee the role and functioning of news media or journalism. These laws are different from media licensing laws, which regulate how media, whether print, broadcast or online, can be established. The latest countries in the region to legislate press laws are Burma in 2014 and Timor Leste in January this year.

Press laws in the region have different frameworks and principles. For example, Indonesia’s Press Law of 1999 defines and protects journalistic work. It is a model for the region as a guarantee to keep the media free from state intervention and harassment. At the other end of the spectrum, the respective press laws in Laos and Vietnam direct media to serve as the propaganda arm of the state, placed under direct control of the government or the single party governing the country. Nonetheless, most press laws still imbue some form of rights for the journalist to gather and report information.

The region, however, is moving toward increasing regulations and restrictions as new rules are imposed to restrict freedom of expression in general and media reporting in particular.

Photo by Julius D. Mariveles

Timor Leste’s new Press Law, intended to protect and develop the young nation’s media, has effectively put new rules and restrictions on journalistic practice. Previously, the media enjoyed a broad constitutional guarantee of press freedom and freedom of expression. Now, apart of having a code of ethics enforced by legislation, the Press Law imposed rules on who can conduct journalistic practice in the country.

Burma’s new News Media Law was passed by parliament last year to replace the 1962 Printer and Publishers Registration Law that governed the media throughout the half-century rule of successive military juntas. Among others, the law upholds some journalistic rights and institutes professional self-regulation. However, the law was passed alongside a Printing and Publishing Enterprise Law (PPEL) that retained government licensing prerogatives and outlined prohibited content that can be the basis for revoking permits.

“In front of computer screens, bloggers and netizens are writing, commenting and criticising governments in Laos, Singapore and Vietnam on an unprecedented scale. Even the quiet act of reading, at times requiring proxies to access blocked online information, brings hope that change is happening – maybe slowly but for certain.”

In reality, the status of the new press law in Burma is uncertain. A permanent Press Council has not been appointed to replace or formalize the interim body appointed while the law was being drafted. Instead of using mechanisms in the law to address professional and ethical breaches, authorities have used criminal charges based on security laws and defamation to jail journalists. On the other hand, the PPEL has been invoked in closing down four community journals in Chin State for not having a permit.

In Cambodia and Malaysia, the licensing regulations are being wielded as a political tool for approving applications of independent media for broadcast (in Cambodia) and publication (Malaysia) licenses in environments dominated by allies and supporters of the ruling parties.

Click on the image to read the full statement on the SEAPA website.

NERLITA LEDESMA, one of the journalists in the Philippines killed this year | Photo from Nerlita Ledesma’s Facebook page