Kurdish journalists say new KRG media guidelines threatens freedom of press

Several journalists in the Iraqi Kurdistan region rejected amendments to the guidelines by the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Culture and Youth to regulate the local and foreign press, describing these amendments as "an attempt to restrict" press freedom and freedom of expression in the volatile region.

According to a Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report, Iraq ranks 172nd out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

Journalists in Iraq and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region face "threats from all sides", the RSF said, including restricting press freedoms and killing and arresting journalists.

The KRG Minister of Culture and Youth, Hamay Hama Saeed, recently issued guideline No. 1 of 2023 on regulating the local and foreign press, including local and international television and radio channels, web televisions, websites and social media platforms.

The guideline was implemented after it was published in the Waqaei Kurdistan (the Kurdish Facts) formal newspaper on 22 May.

an Expert in Media Law: I Suggest the Ministry of Culture's Guidelines for Media Work to Be Rejected@DrawMediaNet
Weaknesses of the new guidelines of the Ministry of Culture for media work...https://t.co/4j4tRyWWb6 pic.twitter.com/ZY4zdfmjhl

— Draw English (@DrawMediaNet) June 6, 2023

"The guideline is against the law for organizing the press in the region, code No. 35 for the year of 2007, in several aspects mainly the law does not shut down media channels, but the guideline suspends media channels in case of breaching. Besides, the guideline creates a black list of certain channels and asks the KRG council of ministers to boycott them," Shwan Mohammed, a Kurdish journalist and director of the Jasana Organisation for Freedom of Press and Media, told The New Arab.

"According to Code 35, media channels do not need to have press licenses, just informing the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate (KJS) they working in the region, but as per the new guideline, the press should get yearly licenses from the KRG's ministries of interior and culture, the KJS, and the Kurdistan board for the environment."

He also stressed that per the instruction, the press is monitored by various entities such as the KRG Office of Media and Information.

"The KRG Ministry of Culture has forgotten that the press is the fourth authority, rather the ministry regards the press as a small subordination of the ministry. I think the ministry should withdraw its instructions and all journalists in the rejoin should reject it," Mohammed added.

Last week, US Ambassador to Iraq Alina L. Romanowski raised concerns during a press conference held in Sulaymaniyah city over the measure and recent steps by the authorities to reduce press freedom.

"I haven't taken a very close look at the new guidelines I think by the Ministry of Culture, but I would say the current press law is a good one and should be implemented. The recent guidelines issued contradict in many places with the current press law," Romanowski told KirkukNow's reporter Lava Hussam.

The guidelines, seen by the TNA, use elastic terms such as "hurting the national security" for banning all journalists from reporting on secret meetings and documents by the Kurdistan parliament, the KRG and the judiciary. In addition, Arabic and international satellite channels that have offices in the region should pay 12 million Iraqi dinars (amounting to more than US$9,000) to renew their yearly licenses.

"We do not feel safe about the new instructions since we are suspicious of these guidelines as being used as a tool for restricting and intimidating journalists, especially part of the instructions is very elastic and could be used for prosecuting journalists," Shorsh Khalid, editor-in-chief- of KirkukNow, an independent website, remarked to TNA.

An item in the guideline also bans any journalistic coverage that would lead to defamation of national figures and symbols, even if proved by local sources.

"This is very dangerous. I understand that if tomorrow, for example, I provided proof that the KRG PM or any senior official has committed corruption, they can then prosecute me on charges of defaming the officials. If this is not restricting the press, then what it is?" Khalid elaborated. 

The TNA spoke with senior officials in the KRG Ministry of Culture, who say the guideline is not new and it does not "restrict the press freedom". Rather, they argue, the guideline is aimed to deal with what they described as "chaos" existing on social media platforms and that "journalists should not suspect the guideline".

"The guideline is not new; it is an amendment of the existing one since 2014. The guideline does not restrict the press freedom, rather it enlarges the scope of the freedom," Sherwan Abdulla, director of the KRG general directorate of media, printing and publications, remarked to TNA.