Freedom of press must be upheld: United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has called for freedom of press to be upheld in Maldivian media.

The British High Commission Malé posted on X stating that during last year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, leaders from around the world had highlighted the importance of responsible and free media in a democracy. Maldives and the UK also attended the meeting.

The post called on to all who are involved to respect what was discussed in the meeting and to maintain press freedom.

Maldivian journalists, journalist organizations and civil society organizations expressed concerns regarding the bill and requested the retraction of Thulhaadhoo MP Abdul Hannan Aboobakuru's Media Regulation Bill.

The bill was passed this last Tuesday by Parliament as journalists were protesting outside.

The bill was ratified by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu along with the amendments. This occurred after the Maldives Media Council (MMC) and Maldives Journalism Association (MJA) had called for the bill to not be ratified due to their concerns not seeing any solutions.

Prior to the amendments, the bill had included an article that stated individual journalists could get fined between MVR 5,000 and MVR 25,000, along with case reviews that can go back one year. This has since been removed.

As per the article in the bill that describes steps that will be taken against media organizations and journalists, it stipulates that if any party is in violation with the described disciplinary code, they are to issue a public apology. They are also to, at a time and manner told by the commission, release a public statement where they take back what they have done or amend their mistake.

As per the bill, if a news publication were to violate the disciplinary code determined by the commission, action will be taken depending on the severity of the issue and whether there have been repeat offenses. The bill states that a fine ranging between MVR 5,000 and MVR 100,000 will be imposed on media organizations.