The Media Advocacy Coalition reacts to further amendments to the Law on Broadcasting initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which would increase the powers of the National Communications Commission, including with regard to the regulation of hate speech.
The explanatory note to the draft law states that “the draft law aims to improve the Georgian Law on Broadcasting in line with the European Commission’s recommendation and to create an effective mechanism to prevent the dissemination of programmes and advertisements containing incitement to terrorism and hate speech”. According to the draft law, it will be possible to appeal to the Communications Commission against the decision of the self-regulatory mechanism on the violation of Article 55 (2).
The Media Advocacy Coalition shares the will of the absolute majority of the Georgian population and fully supports the country’s European integration process. The Coalition and its members have repeatedly stated this and regularly call on the Georgian authorities to ensure the fulfilment of the 12 priorities developed by the European Union, which guarantee the country’s candidate status and are an important tool for overcoming the existing serious institutional challenges.
The Media Advocacy Coalition recognises the need to tackle hate speech. To this end, the Coalition, together with broadcasters, developed an alternative proposal for an effective co-regulatory mechanism last year, which was not considered by the ruling party. The independent experts of the Council of Europe also spoke of a similar model and, given the existing context in the country, supported the introduction of an effective co-regulatory mechanism. This summer, the Coalition gave a positive assessment of the changes presented by the ruling party in Parliament, but considered them insufficient without an effective second-stage co-regulation mechanism.
The concentration of additional power in the hands of the regulator – the Communications Commission – increases the risk of abuse. Based on past practice, the Media Advocacy Coalition and media organisations have a legitimate reason to be concerned.
The Coalition again urges the parliamentary majority not to adopt media-related legislative changes without consultation with broadcasters and broad consensus, as required by the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
