The Chairman of the Board of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Xhemajl Rexha and the media lawyer, Flutura Kusari, asked the ruling party Vetëvendosje not to approve the Draft Law for the Independent Media Commission in the second reading today. They say that the adoption of this law is the most serious attempt to hit and discipline the media and will affect their pluralism.
Since today, in the plenary session, the second reading of the Draft Law on the IMC is on the agenda, in a press conference, Rexha requested that this law be withdrawn and that the remarks given by the international community of the Council of Europe, the European Union, the OSCE and others be taken into account, as well as to listen to the voice of civil society.
Rexha emphasized that the approval of this Draft Law is the most serious attempt of the current government to narrow the media plurality in Kosovo, for which he said that this will have long-term consequences.
Likewise, the media lawyer, Flutura Kusari, said that the Draft Law on the IMC was initiated by Vetëvendosje to ‘capture’ the media sector and not to regulate it.
She said that the most problematic articles of this draft law are those related to the IMC and online media.
Kusari emphasized that with the approval of this Law, Vetëvendosje will fill the IMC with their ardent militants.
This draft law, submitted on December 27, 2023, provides that platforms for the distribution of video materials and online media are subject to registration by the IMC if they wish to publish audio and video materials. The draft law passed the first reading in the Assembly on March 7.
The legislation stipulates that online media that produce videos must be registered as a business. With the changes, the IMC will have the mandate to monitor the work of online media that produce audio-visual content.
Currently, the texts in the online media are monitored by the IMC, but it does not fine the media for their mistakes and makes decisions only on complaints against the media, and then the IMC’s decisions can be used to file civil lawsuits against the media in courts. /Z. Zeneli/
