Why Press Council is failing to protect press freedom

As countries observe World Press Freedom Day today with the theme "freedom of expression is a driver for all other human rights," Bangladesh is perhaps passing through the worst phase of it. Our standing in the World Press Freedom Index has been witnessing a year-on-year slide for quite some time, despite the fact that the number of media outlets – be it a newspaper, a TV channel or a multimedia portal – in the country has seen a spectacular growth. These numbers have certainly given the government a viable tool to counter the national and international outcry of curbing media freedom.

Media plurality, though essential in all democracies, has sadly become a tool for drowning out independent and critical voices. From India, the world has learnt a new term called "Godi media," which is used to describe the unprecedented growth and expansion of news outlets that represent the coterie formed among politicians belonging to the ruling party, the government, and their corporate owners. Replication of this model in our country can be felt in the environment of the so-called plurality. In addition, allowing concentration of diverse media outlets in the hands of a few has already posed critical division within the industry, which has caused additional challenges to independent news organisations.

The introduction of Digital Security Act (DSA), replacing the much criticised Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act for its rampant abuse, has a chilling effect on journalism. Since its enactment, editors, journalists, rights activists and opposition parties, all in unison, have been complaining that they no longer feel able to say what they really want to say.

According to the statistics compiled by Bangladesh-based think tank the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), journalists are the second-most sued professionals under the DSA since its enactment. At least 355 journalists have been implicated in these cases, and a significant number of them have been arrested and faced incarceration for some time. As the DSA allows anyone to file a lawsuit without being remotely linked to the alleged offence, it has become a preferred weapon to suppress independent and critical voices. Though the outcome has been widely described as self-censorship, Prof Ali Riaz of Illinois State University says it's not self-censorship, rather an environment of fear in which everyone feels there's no way other than complying with the authorities.

Mahfuz Anam, the editor of this daily, last year questioned why there were so many laws against free media, and listed a dozen of them, including two drafts, that directly or indirectly affect journalism. Weeks later, it was announced that the cabinet had approved, in principle, another law with deeper and wider implications in regulating the media. The amendment of the Press Council Act, if and when approved, will allow the council to impose financial penalties for mistakes deemed to be against national security and public order and causing moral degradation. It will also have powers to take suo motu cognisance of such an offence. The draft amendment increases the number of government representatives in the council, thereby tightening its grip on the supposedly independent institution.

Strangely enough, apart from a few details given by the cabinet secretary after its approval, no further details have been given, let alone make the draft public.

The original legislation, the Press Council Act, 1974, noted in its introduction, "Whereas it is expedient to establish a press council for the purpose of preserving the freedom of the Press and improving standard of newspapers and news agencies in Bangladesh." Unfortunately, the council, in its lifetime, never stood up for preserving press freedom against an attack from the government, which can be seen in India. Its focus remained largely concentrated in adjudicating cases brought in by the members of the public against any specific newspaper or news agency. In recent years, it started giving some training to journalists.

The Press Council of India, despite being a statutory body, set up under a national legislation and reformed quite a few times, still remains a truly independent and self-regulatory institution for the media industry. However, one plausible explanation for its independence is that its financing comes from the levy it gets from the industry. In Western democracies, including the United Kingdom, the press is largely self-regulated, and the government stays away from the regulatory body, which is set up by the industry.

Journalists are now least protected in Bangladesh, not only due to a host of repressive laws and punitive actions by the authorities including discreet bans on advertisements and refusal of access to state premises and functions, but also for physical harm and attacks. Last year, I wrote in Prothom Alo about the record-setting extension allowed for the 88th time to complete the investigation into the killings of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi. Now we know the investigating unit of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has been granted 97th extension for the probe. Most other cases of the slain 23 journalists since 1992, compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, either remain unsolved, or justice remains elusive. Can the Press Council take some initiative to ensure protecting journalists and ending impunity for attacking them?

Ministers and some members of the current Press Council have argued that the strengthening of the institution will improve the standard of journalism and help tackle the threats of misinformation or fake news in Bangladesh. The council has also undertaken a scheme to register professional journalists, which is an outdated practice mostly confined to some autocratic countries. No other country in South Asia has such a scheme. According to the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), this form of registration is considered as licensing and is used by governments to control the press. There's plenty of reasons to be fearful that the intent here is to curb independent journalism. In this context, voices should be raised to demand that the government abandon the planned amendment of the Press Council Act and allow the industry to formulate a self-regulatory regime.

Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His Twitter handle is @ahmedka1