GIBA to sue NMC over Content Standards Regulations 2015
The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) has described the Content Standards Regulations 2015, the new Legislative Instrument (LI 2224) passed by Parliament on December 9, 2015 to sanitise the airwaves, as a needless attempt to reintroduce the Criminal Libel Law through the backdoor.
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It, therefore, vowed to seek interpretation of the law at the Supreme Court before the end of this week to determine “whether we are just crying foul for its sake or that we have a case,” the President of GIBA, Mr Akwasi Agyemang, said in an interview in Accra yesterday.
He said the association had already notified the National Media Commission (NMC) and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, Legal and Communication of its intention.
Why the objection
Mr Agyemang said although GIBA was not totally against the need to regulate the broadcasting landscape, it would not sit down for a law that was in contravention of the 1992 Constitution to be used in the country.
“We are for a sanitised system where the media are playing their watchdog roles in a responsible manner.
“We agree that there should be some level of regulation. However, we will not sit down for laws to go contrary to the Constitution to be passed, and that is what we are fighting against,” he said.
Mr Agyemang said the LI 2224 was seeking to control the private media by introducing a Criminal Libel Law through the backdoor, citing Article 162, Clause Three and Four of the 1992 Constitution to justify the association’s position on the new LI.
Article 162
Article 162 Clause (3) states: “There shall be no impediments to the establishment of private press or media; and in particular, there shall be no law requiring any person to obtain a licence as a prerequisite to the establishment or operation of a newspaper, journal or other media for mass communication or information.
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Clause Four states: “Editors and publishers of newspapers and other institutions of the mass media shall not be subject to control or interference by the government, nor shall they be penalised or harassed for their editorial opinions and views, or the content of their publications.”
Mr Agyemang said it was GIBA’s view that the LI and the stated portions of the Constitution were contradictory and, therefore, “do not sit together”.
Regulation Three (1)
He was particularly not comfortable with Regulation Three (1) of the LI, which states: “An operator shall not convey or permit to be carried, content on a public electronic communications service or a broadcasting service without obtaining a content authorisation from the Commission.
“An operator who contravenes sub-regulation (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction, to a fine of not less than five thousand penalty units and not more than fifty thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than five years or to both the fine and term of imprisonment.”
Mr Agyemang said GIBA viewed the LI as the reintroduction of the criminal libel law through the backdoor and declared the intention of the association to fight it.
Any consultation?
Asked whether the association was not consulted before the LI was forwarded to Parliament, he said initially, the NMC contacted the association “and we wrote our position on
it”, explaining that there were certain portions the association was not comfortable with and that the commission promised to serve them with copies of the final draft of the LI before it was sent to Parliament.
“We were hoping that we would see the final copy before submission. We were taken by surprise while waiting for a feedback. Be that as it may, it is not the end of the road,” he insisted.
Writer’s Email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh