Presentation at AUSACE conference in Tangier, Morocco. Nov. 11-14, 2013.

1. Despite Arab Uprisings,
Press Freedom Still
Elusive
Published in Jadaliyya.com
By Dr. Matt J. Duffy
Kennesaw State University
AUSACE Conference
Tangier, Morocco
Nov. 11-14

2. In Arab world, since 2011
 Few improvements in press freedom




Libya
Egypt
Yemen
Tunisia
 More restrictions




Oman
Jordan
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia

3. Press Freedom Rankings
 FH 2013: ―Partly Free‖
 Libya, Lebanon, Kuwait, Tunisia
 Libya and Tunisia retained
their status
 All other countries ―not free‖
 Disappointing since one of lessons of Arab Spring was
public wanted more uncensored info
 Twitter, FB, YouTube became conduits
 ―As long as you don’t write about the king, the
military, religion or sex you can cover anything you
want.‖ – Jordanian journalist, ―The New Arab
Journalist‖

4. Research questions
 What are legal elements that have led to poor
rankings?
 Defamation — penal codes
 Insult charges
 False news laws
 Public order laws
 Licensing of journalists
 How have governments changed legal restrictions in
wake of Arab Spring?

5. Defamation
 International norms (Europe, US, South
America, Central America, Japan, S. Korea)
 Civil, not criminal charges
 Harder for public figures than private figures to win
 Truth is an absolute defense
 Arab world – exact opposite
 Criminal charges—defamation charges start with
complaint to police
 ―Aggravating factor‖ if public figure defamed
 Truth not necessarily a defense

6. Defamation — 2013 cases
 Morocco's prosecutors charged Alaan Magazine editor
with criminal defamation after he published an exposé
about a public official ordering champagne while on a
taxpayer-funded trip abroad. His report was verified
with receipts.
 In Tunisia, a university professor and blogger was
charged with criminal defamation of public officials. The
blogger had documented unethical spending by the
former Foreign Minister.
• In Kuwait, an online publisher of ―Alaan‖
newspaper was sent to prison for
defaming the former Oil Minister after he
―expressed his opinion that there was a
need to combat corruption.‖

7. Insult charges
 Laws that ban insults and criticism
of rulers or public officials
 Not all Arab countries have these laws,
most have ban on ruler criticism
 Left over ―Lèse-majesté‖ from colonial rule
 In 2011, the UAE government convicted five digital activists with
―insulting the ruler‖ and other charges after engaging in a political
discussion on a forum site
 In Oman, two journalists lost a case in which they were accused
of insulting a public official after reporting on corruption in the
justice ministry in 2012.
 In Kuwait, dozens of citizens—including opposition politicians—
have been jailed for ―insulting the Emir‖ via posts on Twitter in
2012-and 2013.

8. Insult charges
 Internationally, insult charges
rarely/never used
 In 2013, European Court of
Human Rights overturned a
conviction in France against a
man who had allegedly insulted
the French president with a sign
that contained a profanity.
 Even that 30-euro fine was
considered an abridgment of free
speech.

9. False News
 Many Arab countries make reporting/spreading
a falsehood a illegal
 Seems noble, but many countries have dispatched
such laws as incompatible with free expression
 Increasingly used against social media speech
 Uganda Supreme Court (2014):
 A person’s expression or statement is not precluded from
the constitutional protection simply because it is thought
by another or others to be false, erroneous, controversial
or unpleasant… Indeed, the protection is most relevant
and required where a person’s views are opposed or
objected to by society or any part thereof, as ―false‖ or
―wrong.‖

10. False news — recent charges
 In UAE, Article 38 of the cybercrime law prohibits
spreading ―any incorrect, inaccurate, or misleading
information which may damage the interests of the
state or injures its reputation, prestige, or stature.‖
 Used against social activist who was tweeting details of
trial in which foreign media was barred
 False news charges in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait
as well.
 In Egypt, Al Watan newspaper charged with ―false
news that could disturb public peace‖ after report on
plans of militant terrorist cells.

11. Public Order Laws
 International jurisdictions create specific, narrow
rules for arresting any journalist on the grounds
of disrupting public order.
 For instance, in the United States, a speaker
must be advocating ―imminent lawless action‖
before an arrest can be made.
 In Europe, ―incitement to hatred‖ would be valid
reason to arrest journalist
 Wide boundary for journalists

12. Public Order Laws
 Many Arab countries abuse public order laws
 In May 2013, the UAE government charged an online
activist with violating the public order provision of the
recently updated cybercrime law.
 The activist was charged with violating Article 28 of
cybercrime law, which makes it a crime to use digital
technology ―with the intent of inciting to actions, or
publishing or disseminating any
information, news, caricatures, or other images liable to
endanger security and its higher interests or infringe on
the public order.‖

13. Public Order Laws
 In 2012, a Kuwait court shut down
the largely Shiite newspaper Al-Dar
for six months ―prompted by two
articles that were accused of inciting violations of public
order and expressing
hate toward certain religious and social groups.‖
• The articles in question had described the movement of
Saudi troops into the Shiite-majority kingdom Bahrain
during unrest in that country.
• Such reporting does not appear rooted in a desire to
upset public order or create religious strife.

14. Licensing of journalists
 All Arab countries require journalists to be licensed
 In some countries laws on the books not enforced
 Licensing of journalists is seen as infringement of free
speech since journalists who offend powerful figures
could have their licenses revoked
 Television outlets are licensed because of spectrum
scarcity
 Jordan forced online news outlets in register in 2013
 Iraq revoked journalism licenses for nine broadcast
outlets.

15. Result?
Self-censorship
 An editor for a Saudi paper says ―we know our limits
and in a way practice self-censorship. There have been
troubles when red lines have been crossed.‖
 Egyptian reporter working for an Emirates newspaper
said he had asked himself ―two or three times what will
be the reaction‖ before publishing an article.
 Another Gulf editor said it plainly: ―Our press is infected
with the self-censorship virus.‖

16. Silver linings
 It’s not all doom and gloom
 Tunisia has retained ―partly free‖ ranking
 Hasn’t seen major actions from gov’t to restrict relatively
free landcape
 Libya has seen 69 new media outlets spring up in free
media environment
 Free due to lack of government control in general
 Yemen still ―not free‖ but far more media freedom than
pre-revolution
 No journalist deaths in 2012

17. The End
 Matt J. Duffy, PhD
 Kennesaw State University
 Teach communication law and policy
 Slides at: www.mattjduffy.com
 Twitter: @mattjduffy