Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission established

Yesterday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu established the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MMBC) under the newly ratified Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill.

The bill was passed in Parliament on Tuesday, with it being ratified yesterday. This resulted in the Maldives Media Council (MMC) and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) being abolished. The work that was being done by both those organizations will now be handled by the newly established Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission.

As per the Media Regulation Bill, until permanent commission members can be appointed, five members will be appointed by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) who will be temporarily running the MBC. Three permanent commission members are to be appointed within three days of the bill going into effect. 

As per the new law, the temporary members to be chosen to temporarily run the commission must be Director General-level and higher. They must also be from civil service organizations. For temporary Presidents and Vice Presidents to be chosen, the five temporary members are to do so via a secret ballot.

Out of the seven permanent members that are to be appointed to the commission, three of them are to be appointed by the Parliament as per the law. The other four members will be elected by the media via a secret ballot. The Parliament reserves the power to remove any member of the commission as per the law.

The bill submitted by Thulhaadhoo MP Abdul Hannan Aboobakuru initially stated that individual journalists would see punishment. However, with the amendments of the Attorney General's Office, that particular article was abolished. But if newspapers and magazines are in violation of the disciplinary code determined by the commission, they can be fined anywhere between MVR 5,000 and MVR 100,000.

The article regarding the withholding of a media's registration was also removed. The article regarding past cases has also been removed.

Even with the bill being passed with the amendments made by the Attorney General's Office, the MMC and MBC had called for the President to not ratify the bill as journalists still had concerns regarding the bill.

The biggest concern that journalists have is the government's influence in the regulation of journalists. Journalists also state that the Parliament having the power to appoint three members, along with the Parliament having the power to remove any commission member is also a major issue.