Why did the new draft law on the Independent Media Commission cause a storm of reactions?

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Most international organizations, the civil sector, as well as active journalist associations in Kosovo, agree that the Draft Law on the Independent Media Commission, which was adopted the day before yesterday in the second reading in the Kosovo Assembly, is harmful, legally vague and seriously restricts the freedom of the media.

Instead of self-regulation as the most democratic form of regulating the electronic media space, the Kosovo legislator decided that the field of electronic media should be regulated by authorities. There is hope, say the interlocutors Radio Mitrovica North to delay, but not prevent, the implementation of this law.

The draft was first adopted by the Kosovo government in December last year, after which the Association of Kosovo Journalists, the Press Council and the Association of Serbian Journalists registered in Kosovo reacted. Journalists' associations have informed international journalist organizations with their concerns. This was followed by a reaction from international missions such as the OSCE and the EU Chancellery. The draft is still adopted in the first reading in the Kosovo Assembly.

Brussels soon became aware of the critical points of this draft. The Council of Europe is sending media law experts to Kosovo with the task of evaluating the draft law and possibly compiling a list of recommendations so that this legal act is in full compliance with EU standards.

The experts have completed their part of the work. In a document of about 50 pages, they give 12 recommendations for amending the law, of which the legislator, according to the OSCE's assessment, applied very little, making cosmetic corrections in the text itself. Essentially, that law remains the same and was adopted as such in the second reading at the session of the Kosovo Assembly held on July 11, 2024.

This law is harmful and seriously limits media freedom, controls the media through the possibility of political influence and slows down their work - everyone who publicly reacted to the adoption of the draft agrees.

In the first place, there is the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, which assessed that "the Self-Determination movement persisted to such an extent in its intention to pass this law, that they even did so with a minimum quorum and without the presence of the opposition."

Reactions of international representatives and missions followed, such as the outgoing head of the EU Office in Pristina, Tomas Sunjog, and the OSCE mission, on whose initiative the Council of Europe sent experts. The ambassador of Germany, Jorn Rode, also spoke out, also dissatisfied with the ignoring of SE's recommendations. All express concern about the expansion of the competence of the Independent Media Commission to social networks and criticize the "legal ambiguity" and ignoring the attitude towards the recommendations of the Council of Europe. The adviser of the European Center for Freedom of the Press and Media Flutura Kusari even characterized the law as "anti-European".

However, there is another instance where it is possible to prevent such a legal act from immediately becoming legally binding.

That instance is the president Vjosa Osmani, he says for Radio Mitrovica North Ardita Zejnulahu, executive director of the Association of Independent Electronic Media in Kosovo (AMPEK) and announces that he will talk to her on this occasion.

"This is a missed opportunity to adopt a really good law with the support of the Council of Europe." We should have listened to the recommendations, changed the draft. We will address President Osmana and explain our disagreement to her. After all, she is the one who ultimately needs to put her signature on that law," says Zeynullah.

Milica Radovanović, project manager at the NGO New Social Initiative, confirms that it is realistic to expect the President of Kosovo to be aware of spoiling Kosovo's image in international circles by adopting such a law.

However, he believes, it is not a long-term solution.

"Considering that both the EU and the many embassies that have spoken out are against this law, and all of these are moments that have a very negative effect on the image of Kosovo, it would not be surprising if Vjosa Osmani returns that law." However, she can do it once, maybe twice, but she cannot prevent the adoption of that law. He can prolong it a bit, to 'buy time'", explains Radovanović.

He reminds that two opposition parties have announced that they will refer the law to the Constitutional Court for assessment, but adds that so far no one has questioned the constitutionality of this act, but says that it will not be bad if there is a possibility to challenge it in this way.

What does the adoption of the Draft Law on IMC bring to the media?

Legal ambiguity is one of the key points pointed out by SE experts.

In the section on prescribing fines from 200 to 40.000 euros, there is a lack of specification of the offense and the amount provided for by law.

"The independent commission has its own code and in case of violation of the provisions, the media can be punished." This law is neither the first nor the last one that foresees punishment for misdemeanors, but the problem with this law is that it is generally determined - from 200 to 40.000 euros and there is no gradation in the law in the sense of which misdemeanor and which punishment is provided for," explains Radovanović.

She says that as far as she is aware, this did not happen even after the recommendation of SE experts, so it was probably left to be regulated by some by-law that the commission itself will pass later.

Another problem is the permission to broadcast video material in electronic media. And there is too much ambiguity. Until now, self-regulation has been valid here - the media itself, guided by the code of ethics, evaluates what it will publish. The Kosovo Press Council was a regulatory body to which citizens would complain in case of violations of the code of ethics in reporting. Now, we know that online media need a license to broadcast video material, for which they will have to apply, but it remains completely unclear what conditions the media needs to fulfill in order to be issued or possibly denied that license.

"That part of the law is defined in a very strange way." First of all, online media are referred to in the law as platforms for sharing video content. This is a novelty that is being introduced for the first time in Kosovo - that the regulation of online portals is placed under the authority of the Independent Media Commission. In fact, we are moving from self-regulation to state regulation," says Radovanović and adds that it is not even clear whether this is really a permit or just some kind of registration that you get by simply applying.

If this implies the introduction of a permit system, then in Radovanović's opinion it is problematic. However, it should be clarified because there is a great possibility that this as well as the previous laws, as he says, have an unfortunate translation.

Although the law itself is full of ambiguities, one thing is certain - the influence of the Kosovo government on the media will strengthen thanks to this law. Namely, the number of members of the Independent Media Commission will increase from seven to 11, which in Radovanović's opinion is unnecessary because it only burdens the work of the commission and does not fundamentally change anything. Then, according to the new law, the mandate of the commission members is fixed at four years with the possibility of re-election. All members are elected by the Kosovo Assembly, which indirectly affects the composition of the commission for a long period of time.

"There is not much reason to believe that the government will not abuse this law, especially towards the media that are critical of the government." We already have a situation with the director RTK whose choice threatens the independence of the public broadcaster... "This government has already put its paw on the media," Radovanović points out.

Even if the government changes, Radovanović believes that one should not be optimistic about the repeal of this law, because "it is difficult to expect any government to voluntarily narrow the scope of the powers given to them."

The situation in the media in Kosovo is illustrated by data from this year's Reporters Without Borders report, where in the list of countries in which freedom of media activity is assessed, in just one year, Kosovo fell by 19 places - from 56th to 75th.


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