Towards media law reform in Lebanon

Following the participatory process launched by UNESCO last year towards the reform of the media law in Lebanon, and which involved all national stakeholders -MPs, media owners, journalists, syndicates, academics, civil society organizations, the UNESCO Regional Office hereby makes public the suggestions and recommendations on the proposed media law taking into consideration the international standards and best practices. These suggested amendments aim to strengthen the media landscape in Lebanon and it was developed following the signature of a Partnership Compact between the Lebanese Parliament and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in June 2022 to support legislative efforts, and based on the request of the Ministry of Information and with the support UNESCO’s legal expert and strategic partner Toby Mendel.

As part of its mission to enhance freedom of expression, access to information and safety of journalists, media law reform holds a particular importance for UNESCO globally and in particular in Lebanon. Lebanese media are currently organized under the 1962 Press Law and the 1994 Audiovisual Media Law. In close partnership with the Ministry of Information, the revised text was based on the draft media law present with the Administration and Justice parliamentary committee since July 2021, and reflects important updates.

Its scope is now clearly focused on media, including those distributed over the Internet. The text also provides, among other things, a clear framework of rules on how licensing of broadcasters is to be organized and significantly improved rules on the independence of the Authority. A co-regulatory system of professional regulation of the media -a system of complaints- has also been added to the law.

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