CAIRO: At a time when the new social media has widened the margin of freedom of expression and opened forums for the society to speak out, have voices, share ideas, criticize regime and reflect the Egyptian society’s beat, we find that the government is still stuck between the claim of allowing freedom of expression and the remnants of an authoritarian control.
Over the past few years, we have witnessed the transition in Egypt being towards a liberal system. The new satellite channels started to break taboos, help people get involved in their local community problems, stimulate public conversation and debate, give attention to minority groups and reflect the different political and religious ideologies. Yet in the last three weeks, a sudden closure of several private satellite channels took place.
The timing coincides with the parliamentary elections due this November. Although different officials stated that there is no relation between the closure and the political agenda, such a behavior raises doubts about the political pressure exercised over the channels, and it draws attention to an alarming point: regulations.
After the closure of the channels through the Egyptian General Authority for Investment (GAFI), the Ministers of Information and Telecommunication and the Head of the ERTU started talking about content codes and the importance for the satellite channels to perform within a regulatory framework.
At this point there is a concern about who sets the content codes, who monitors, and who imposes sanctions.
The existence of a regulatory framework requires primarily the existence of a regulator or an independent body that does not fall under the ownership or the control of the government. And as it happens in transitional countries worldwide, the regulator is responsible for monitoring the broadcasters’ performance, checking abidance by content codes, and imposing gradual sanctions if violations occur.
Yet, the situation in Egypt is different; as the channels were shut down suddenly, with no prior warnings, on the line of reasoning that the programs do not meet the license conditions. But again who gives the license and who sets the regulations? If the content codes are set by the ERTU committees, then the whole process falls under the government authority, where transparency and independency are questionable. Even if the license is given by another entity, it is still not clear who controls the whole process.
Content regulations could never be set by governmental personnel, as it is crucial for different entities to get involved in setting the content regulations, such as Al Azhar, the Church, minors, NGOs and the Civil society. This is to ensure that the different categories of the society and their concerns are represented and that the content codes are comprehensive.
Looking back to the Arab Satellite Charter that was heavily criticized by media critics, commentators and satellite television presenters, the charter aimed at setting the regulations so that broadcasters perform according to the industry content codes, and in case of breaching, the regulator should send warnings explaining the violations of the codes that were agreed upon between the regulator and the broadcaster when given the license.
This is the situation internationally, as there is the High Council for Broadcasting (CSA) in France, the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), the National Broadcasting Council in Poland, the Office of Communication (Ofcom) in the UK, and others worldwide. Although the degree of independency varies in each country as some countries are still moving towards libertarian, yet they are all based on the idea that the government cannot be the regulator and there must be an independent body as a first step for regulation.
Regulations will never be efficiently applied and monitored if performed through governmental bodies and figures. Regulation must be set by an independent body and must contain clear sub-codes that are put into a context that no entity can abuse to suppress freedoms.
At this point, demarcation of responsibilities between the different entities is vital to support the growth of the broadcast enterprises and ensure transparency.
Rasha Allam is a professor of Journalism and Mass Communication with specialization in Media Management.
