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"Greatest challenge is conforming press to true media freedom"

Aishath Mihna Nasih
03 May 2017, MVT 14:05
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom sends greetings of World Press Freedom Day PHOTO:President Offic
Aishath Mihna Nasih
03 May 2017, MVT 14:05

The President's Office remarked Wednesday that the greatest challenge to the press of the Maldives today is to conform journalism back to the boundaries of true media freedom instead of the unconscionable extremes it has reached in recent years.

In a tweet posted in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, the spokesperson of the President's Office Ibrahim Muaz Ali passed the greetings of the day to all media outlets on behalf of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Muaz highlighted that the Defamation and Freedom of Speech Act which came into effect this year is an achievement by the government to confirm journalism back into the framework of true media freedom.

“Maldives have achieved major accomplishments in preventing defamation through journalism,” added Muaz.

Further welcoming independent journalism, Muaz condemned the attacks on media and individual journalists.

While the government has reiterated accomplishments in the journalism field, the Maldives has dropped five tiers on the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters without Borders which analyses press freedom across 180 countries. The Maldives is now listed among the countries with the least freedom of media.

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