IPI Report on Jordan: "Amending the licensing law for news websites" by International Press Institute

IPI report | Press freedom in Jordan Amending the licensing law for news websites

! ! ! Summary !

A year after dozens of Jordan’s Internet news sites were blocked by the government for failing to comply with a new licensing law, many online journalists continue to hold out hope that the government will reverse course. The law has not only caused disruptions and financial hardship for the rapidly growing Internet news market, but it also puts Jordan on the map as one of the few countries to have enacted such a requirement - itself a dangerous precedent in a region where independent news media face formidable restrictions.

The blocking of more than 200 news websites on June 1, 2013 was a shock to IPI and other pressfreedom advocates, coming only days after IPI held its 2013 World Congress in Amman.1 Addressing the Congress, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour promised to pursue reforms that “further guarantee rights and freedoms, including media freedom.”2 The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission issued the blackout orders, saying the sites “did not comply with a recently introduced change to the state’s press and publications law” that required the licensing of all such websites.

Since then, IPI has urged Jordan’s parliament and monarch, King Abdullah II, to reconsider amendments to the Press and Publications Law that require the licensing of Internet news and information providers. In June 2013, IPI representatives met with Prime Minister Ensour to discuss the blocking action.3 IPI initiated a petition in October 2013, along with 21 other media and human rights organisations, urging the king to rescind restrictions placed on Internet news sites.4 Most recently, in May 2014, an IPI representative returned to Amman to urge senior government officials, including Dr. Mohammed H. Al-Momani, the minister for media affairs, to amend the law.

Conversations with more than a dozen editors, journalists and media activists from May 9 to 13, 2014 reconfirmed the urgency of reconsidering the licensing requirement along with the obligation   1

“Access to Jordan News Websites Blocked: Press & Publications Crackdown Launched”, Al Bawaba News, June 2, 2013. Early reports on the number of websites affected ranged up to 304. 2

Speech of Prime Minister Adbullah Ensour at the IPI World Congress, Amman, May 20, 2013.

“IPI and partners complete joint Jordan emergency press freedom mission”, IPI statement, June 26, 013.

“Ending Internet restrictions in Jordan”, IPI statement, Oct. 8, 2013.

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that the chief editor of the news sites be a member of the journalists’ professional organisation. They expressed a concern that these requirements represent a drain on resources and unprecedented interference in the independence of news operations. More broadly, they see the law as extending Jordanian influence over the global Internet space, giving the authorities the power to revoke licences, and setting a grave precedent for other nations looking to control independent media on the Internet. (Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a similar law in May 2014 that further extends the Kremlin’s authority beyond traditional media to Internet news providers and social networking sites.5)

Government officials have defended the law as necessary to improve media professionalism and to provide a mechanism to monitor home-based media to protect against consumer blackmail, hate speech or extremism. The minister of media affairs has made clear to IPI that the licensing provision is not an attempt to subvert independent news providers, trample on press freedom or to control news coverage. He also defended the blocking of sites that did not comply, saying it was done in accordance with the law and that no one who applied for a licence has been denied the right to publish online. In a lawsuit filed by several online media companies following the June decision, a Jordanian court upheld the law and the blocking of the sites, and denied the plaintiffs’ request for an opinion from the Constitutional Court.

Beyond the Internet licensing requirement, IPI is also concerned about recently approved counterterrorism amendments aimed at digital media and existing measures that make it a criminal offence to disturb relations with a foreign government, an overtly vague law that has been applied in recent months against the publisher and editor of a news website.

Amidst these concerns, Jordanian officials have left the door open to reconsider laws that IPI and other press freedom advocates contend pose a threat to freedom of expression and undermine the independence of the media. IPI is pursuing follow-up proposals to bring together the affected parties and to amend the laws to ensure a free, competitive and professional media environment in Jordan - one that can set a standard for the Arab region.

! ! Background !

Jordan’s National Assembly voted on Sept. 11, 2012 to amend Articles 48 and 49 of the 1998 Press and Publications Law to extend to electronic media laws similar to those in place for newspapers. Of specific concern are measures that require:

- Jordanian-based news websites to be headed by a journalist who has been a member of the Jordan Press Association, a professional syndicate founded in 1953, for at least four years. - All Internet news sites to be licensed by the Press and Publications Department, a division of the Prime Ministry.6

“Russia Quietly Tightens Reins on Web With ‘Bloggers Law’,” New York Times, May 6, 2014.

See the Organizational Structure of the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's Administration.

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- Editors to be legally responsible for comments posted by readers by considering these part of news articles.7

Although the legislation is vague in defining what is considered a news site and makes exceptions for specialised publications, the law is believed to apply to some 400 websites and as of May 2014, 156 had been licensed.

The authorities say the legislation will help monitor Jordan’s burgeoning media sector, improve professionalism and guard against hate speech, extremism or economic blackmail.8 Rapid technological improvements and a competitive market have driven Internet use in the country, and with that growth, more people are turning to online media and social networks for information, posing a competitive threat to traditional media but also creating new challenges for government oversight of the news media.9 Eleven days after clearing the two houses of parliament - the National Assembly and Senate - the Cabinet approved the provisions.10

Web publishers and editors say they were caught off guard by the rapid adoption of the amendments, which allowed little time for debate, public discussion, let alone international reaction. The law gave news websites 90 days to obtain a licence but news media complained that they received no notice and there was general confusion over which sites were required to comply the new law. Many editors and publishers of news websites were already saying they would ignore the regulation.

Then on June 1, 2013, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission - acting at the request of the Press and Publications Department - blocked more than 200 websites defined by the law as located within Jordan, declaring that it had no choice but to enforce the law. The action was later reversed for some sites not deemed to be “news providers” and there was no interference with social media or Internet services such as Google and Yahoo. Other websites were blocked in the following weeks, according to media reports, in some cases after the media reported on those that had not been affected.11

IPI sent an emergency delegation to Amman to urge the government to reconsider the action on the grounds that it barred access to the news in violation of internationally accepted press freedom standards and practices.12 Many Jordanian journalists and media activists contend that these restrictions are in violation of the principles of press freedom and guarantees made in the Jordanian Constitution. The action also appeared to contravene Jordan’s longstanding commitment, under

“Jordan: Parliament Approves Law on Online Publications”, Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor, Sept. 18, 2012. 8

IPI interview with Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammed H. Al-Momani, Prime Ministry (Amman), May 12, 2014. 9

Internet use tripled in Jordan between 2006 and 2012, to more than 40 percent, figures from the International Telecommunications Union show. 10

“Cabinet approves draft press and publications law,” Petra news agency, Aug. 22, 2012.

“Jordanian Government Blocks 7iber”, Facebook post, July 1, 2013.

“IPI and partners complete joint Jordan emergency press freedom mission”, IPI statement, June 26, 2013.

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Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to respect freedom of expression and access to information. The government’s action also contradicted commitments to media freedom made by high-level representatives of the Jordanian government during the IPI World Congress (held in Amman May 19 to 21, 2013), and promises made to IPI and representatives of several other organisations, including ARTICLE 19 and Human Rights Watch.13 Later that year, five of the blocked websites AmmanNet, JO24, Ainnews, Khabarjo and Kul Al Urdun – sued the government on grounds that the law violated constitutional rights to a free press. A Jordanian court upheld the licensing regulation and denied the plaintiff’s request for a Constitutional Court opinion on the law, effectively leaving those challenging the law at a legal dead end.

Since then, some online editors and publishers have acquiesced to the authorities by obtaining a licence but continue to seek changes to the law. They have also proposed self-regulatory steps to address concerns about professionalism and to provide sanctions for those who violate ethical standards as a bargaining chip in exchange for legal reform. Yet to date, there has been no bill introduced to change the Press and Publications Law.

! ! Issues !

Jordanian journalists operate in a restrictive environment where self-censorship is the norm. Nonetheless, they are better off than many of their colleagues in other Arab nations. Reporters Without Borders, for instance, ranked Jordan 134 out of 179 countries in its Press Freedom Index, ahead of Morocco (136), Tunisia (138), Oman (141), Palestine (146), Iraq (150), Egypt (158), Saudi Arabia (163), Bahrain (165), Yemen (169), Sudan (170), and Syria (176). Jordan trailed Libya (131), Algeria (125), the Emirates (114), Qatar (110), Lebanon (101) and Kuwait (77) in the 2013 ranking.14 Yet the country suffered a further blow to its reputation with the changes to the Press and Publications Law, making Jordan one of the few countries to make it legally binding for Internet news providers to have a licence to operate. (Russian President Vladimir Putin in May 2014 signed a similar law in what was seen as a move to further corral independent news sources.15) The draft legislation amending the Press and Publications Law moved swiftly through Jordan’s legislative process, which includes approval by parliament and consent by the king. Supporters said the new provisions were a move to improve professionalism in online news media whose readership is now believed to have surpassed that of the country’s newspapers.

Jordan’s Minister of State for Media Affairs, Mohammed H. Al-Momani, firmly defends the licensing requirement as an effort to prevent blackmail and hate speech through the Internet. In an interview with IPI, he said there has been no interference with those who comply with the law. 13

See the speech of Prime Minister Abdullah Mansour at the IPI World Congress, May 20, 2013. Also see “IPI and partners complete joint Jordan emergency press freedom mission”, June 26, 2013. 14

Reporters Without Borders, World Press Freedom Index (2013).

“Google Warning on Russia Prescient as Putin Squeezes Web”, Bloomberg, April 30, 2014.

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“There is nothing to deprive them of freedom of the press,” the minister told IPI.16 The minister said any action taken against those in non-compliance must first be approved by the courts.

Prime Minister Ensour also has assured IPI that actions against online media were in compliance with the law and due process. In a letter to IPI, he said: “Jordan adheres to the rule-of-law, and the blocking of the non-licensed news websites was in implementation of the ratified Press and Publications Law that went through all constitutional stages to become a full-fledged law. It is the government’s constitutional duty to implement the law, and failing to do that will undermine one of Jordan’s main democratic indicators.”17

Journalists, however, see the law as a tool to strengthen political control over what is reported - and by whom. Online journalists complain that the obligation to have an editor who is a Jordan Press Association member discourages competition and effectively bars young journalists or those with experience in online media who are not syndicate members from launching news sites. The syndicate does not allow electronic journalists to be members, further angering those working in Internet media and limiting potential cooperation between new and traditional news organisations.

Internet journalists also say the licensing law represents a double layer of bureaucracy, since media companies - whether online, broadcast or in print - already must register their business information with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. “In fact, the Press and Publications Department got the list [of news sites to block] from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, so why do they need another list when it already exists?” remarked one news site editor.18 Outraged by regulators' move to block websites that had not been licensed, editors went to court, organised protests or found technical ways to outmanoeuvre the authorities.

Only the latter have been successful. Some media responded by creating mirror websites and shifting to other means - Facebook, Twitter and e-mail lists - to get out the news. “But there is no advertising revenue from this,” said Basil Okoor, chief editor of the JO24 digital news site.19 “I have a staff to pay,” he said looking through glass partitions to the newsroom. “You can’t survive like this.”

Other editors of online news sites told IPI that the regulations threaten their independence and survival because:

- What the government gives, it can also take away. The licensing process thus contributes to other pressures to self-censor. “While Jordan didn’t benefit from the blocking of websites which resulted in punishing the Jordanian public, the wide-ranging action against the websites did have a negative effect on the status of media in Jordan,” said As Daoud Kuttab, founder and director of the Community Media Network whose AmmanNet was among the blocked news sites.20 “The overall 16

Interview of May 12, 2014, at the Prime Ministry in Amman.

Letter from Prime Minister Ensour to IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie, June 25, 2013.

Interview with IPI’s Timothy Spence, Amman, May 12, 2014.

Interview with IPI’s Timothy Spence, Amman, May 13, 2014.

Kuttab is also a member of the IPI executive board. His comments were made via e-mail on May 26, 2014.

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result of the government action was a chilling effect that has touched many journalists and publishers, resulting in self-censorship that results in stifling the freedom of expression and the press.”

- The legal requirement that the top editor of Internet news sites be a member of the Jordan Press Association discourages innovation, bars upstarts and gives the authorities unprecedented power over who can be hired to run online newsrooms.

- National licensing contradicts the Internet’s value as a global source for news and information. Indeed, editors reported that many of their readers are located outside Jordan and that external traffic grew after many websites were blocked in 2013.

The editors further added that the requirement should be a warning to journalists in other countries, the editor of one leading online news site said, adding that it is a way to keep independent media in check.21

Journalists and media advocates are not alone in their concerns. Fears that the Internet news site licensing requirement could lead to government influence and censorship were expressed by six EU countries - Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - and the United States during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Jordan in October 2013.22

Jordan’s official position is that the expanded Press and Publications Law “includes several positive measures, such as the prevention of imprisonment of journalists, and has reduced the length of litigation procedures. The law does not impose fees for registration of news websites. The Government cannot block licensed websites without a court order. The provisions of the law do not affect the level of press freedom and have not reduced the level of criticism of Government policies. The law requires editors to be members of the journalists’ union and also guarantees the rights of workers to social security and health insurance.”23

Despite its staunch defence, Amman has expressed a willingness to reconsider the law. “The channels of discussion are open, active and positive,” said Minister Al-Momani.24 Furthermore, Prime Minister Ensour pledged his government’s cooperation in a letter to IPI.25 “The Jordanian government, through constructive dialogue, hopes to continue cooperating with the media and journalism community in Jordan in order to organize this valuable profession, and protect it from intruders. In that regards, your kind offer of lending Jordan your expertise is appreciated.”

Such promises have been met with a mixture of hope and skepticism. “There has been no open hostility and it is positive that they are at least saying they will reconsider the registration 21

Interview with IPI’s Timothy Spence in Amman, May 13, 2014.

The review took place Oct. 21-Nov. 1, 2013. See Report of the Working Group on the Universal Period Review of Jordan, U.N. Human Rights Council, Jan. 6, 2014, pages 19-20. 23

Ibid., page 5.

Interview of May 12, 2014, at the Prime Ministry in Amman.

Letter from Prime Minister Ensour to IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie, op. cit.

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requirement,” one editor told IPI. But another said it was all talk with little promise of action. “We decided to [get a licence] and continue fighting but it’s an impossible situation because there is no hope for reform, and no reformers,” said JO24’s Okoor, dismissing assertions that the parliament would consider changes. “They are very good in this, sitting and talking about things without taking any action,” the editor added.

! ! Beyond the licensing requirement !

Compared to many Arab countries, Jordan offers a modestly more open environment for news media. Yet journalists still face pressure for their reporting and there is widespread self-censorship. IPI has criticised the website licensing law as well as the use of national security laws to prosecute journalists outside the civil court system. Similar criticisms arose during the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review of Jordan in October 2013.26 Journalists themselves have told IPI that while overt interference is rare, pressures exist. “They don’t threaten you directly,” one editor explained to IPI. “It’s more like they tell the family member of one of your employees when we’ve gone to far, or suggest you remove an article from the website.”

Nonetheless, fear of terrorism - to use one government official’s word, “intruders” - is a constant in Jordan, a leading destination for refugees from the Syrian conflict and a purported crossroads for illicit arms sales to combatants in both Syria and Iraq.27 Jordanian authorities recently reported a growing threats to the country’s stability from extremists.28 Regional conflicts and extremism give the government presumed justification to enact laws and carry out enforcement despite the risk to press freedom and liberties guaranteed under the Constitution. For instance:

- Local journalists fear that recently approved counter-terrorism amendments aimed at digital media could further harm news websites and discourage legitimate dissent if they become law, as expected.29

- Current statutes make it a criminal offence to undermine relations with a foreign government, a law that has been applied in recent months against the managers of a news website. IPI has expressed concern to the government that the overly broad nature of this law has a chilling effect on news reporting and threatens the right of dissent. Sometimes the charges border on the absurd. For example, Jafra News publisher Nidhal al-Faraneh and editor Amjad Muala were arrested on Sept. 17, 2013 accused by state security agents of harming relations with a foreign country for publishing the link to a YouTube video which showed a man – purportedly a member of the Qatari royal family – lounging, dancing and showering with several women.30

! 26

See U.N. Human Rights Council summary on periodic review of Jordan: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/ GEN/G13/157/75/PDF/G1315775.pdf?OpenElement 27

“Global Arms Markets as Seen Through the Syrian Lens”, Stratfor Global Intelligence, July 25, 2013.

“Islamic extremism on rise in Jordan”, Al-Monitor, May 18, 2014.

“Jordan’s Anti-Terrorism Law: A Choice between Security or Speech”, 7iber.com, April 30, 2014.

“IPI urges release of jailed Jordanian publisher, editor”, IPI statement, Oct. 25, 2013.

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- The prosecution of journalists before the State Security Court denies them due process before civilian courts. The tribunal includes military judges who try cases involving internal or external threats.31

Access to information is a further concern. Jordan in 2007 became the first Arab country to approve an Access to Information Law, a significant achievement that put the country in line with guarantees contained in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was subsequently expanded to include foreign citizens the right to request information.

However, many provisions of the law are too loose and journalists in particular complain that the statute’s 30-day response period is excessive. The Jordan Press Association has complained that government officials in many cases refuse to comply with information requests.32 And a World Bank analysis of the law noted “there are limitations due to its vagueness, exceptions regime, and its relationship with the larger legal framework. The Jordanian experience serves as an example about limited progress regarding ATI despite the passing of legislation. In this case the law has not supported improvements in access to information. The majority of Jordanians have no knowledge of the law, and those who know about it have not tested government openness fully.”33

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Recommendations Jordanian senior officials have repeatedly assured IPI and other stakeholders that they are willing to consider changes to laws that pose threats to press freedom. Indeed, the five-year Media Strategy launched by King Abdullah II on July 25, 2012 is aimed at updating media laws, professionalism and education.34 However, to end any doubt about Jordan’s promises to support an independent and pluralistic media environment, urgent reform is needed, including these steps:

! To the government: ! - Immediately suspend the blockage of news websites within Jordan. !

- Repeal provisions of the Press and Publications Law that mandate the licensing of all news websites and require that the chief editor be a member of the Jordan Press Association. Publishers and managers of news sites should decide whom to employ, not the law.

! In addition to the licensing law, the parliament should: ! 31 Among

Muala. 32

those brought before the State Security Court were Jafra News publisher Nidhal al-Faraneh and editor Amjad

“JPA releases 2013 report on press freedom”, Petra news agency, April 20, 2014.

“Access to Information in the Middle East and North Africa Region: An overviewof recent developments inJordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia”, World Bank. 34

“King launches Media Strategy’s implementation plan”, press statement from the Royal Hashemite Court, July 25, 2012.

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- Establish a special committee to review all media laws to ensure that they comply with Chapter II, Article 15 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press and the right of government non-interference in the media.35

- Repeal provisions of the recently amended anti-terror statues that allow journalists to be tried through State Security Courts, despite promises to end such practices.

- Reconsider amendments to the anti-terrorism laws to ensure that journalists have the freedom to report on national security and that the right of legitimate dissent is not restrained. These laws need to balance to the duty of political powers to ensure safety while also protecting the public’s right to be informed about political dissent and threats to national security. In this respect, the special rapporteurs on freedom of expression of several international organisations, including the United Nations and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, have offered guidance in helping to define the balance between combatting terrorism and protection freedom of expression and the media: “The criminalisation of speech relating to terrorism should be restricted to instances of intentional incitement to terrorism, understood as a direct call to engage in terrorism which is directly responsible for increasing the likelihood of a terrorist act occurring, or to actual participation in terrorist acts…”36

! To publishers and editors of news websites: !

- Establish self-regulatory mechanisms including a complaints process and non-statutory penalties, and an independent ombudsman to critique news coverage. Since the Internet is global in scope, the complaints process should be open to those living outside Jordan as well as within.

- Cooperate with traditional media and media organisations in Jordan to improve professionalism across platforms, and to provide a united front against government-imposed restrictions on press freedom and access to information.

Finally, Jordan’s monarch, King Abdullah II, has mapped out a democratic future for the country in a series of essays that include a call for strengthening parliamentary democracy. In “Making our Democratic System Work for all Jordanians”, the king writes that “Democracy is fundamentally something active, something we do as citizens and as a country.”37 His ministers - along with journalists and their international representatives at IPI and other organisations - must take the king’s message to heart and work cooperatively to revamp the country’s laws to ensure a robust and independent press free of government-imposed hurdles.

! !

About this report 35

Constitution of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2011): http://www.representatives.jo/pdf/constitution_en.pdf

Joint Declaration by UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Union’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, December 2008, http://www.osce.org/fom/35639 37

King Abdullah II’s “Discussion paper” of Jan. 16, 2013. See http://kingabdullah.jo/index.php/en_US/pages/view/id/ 248.html

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The details and recommendations in this report are based on interviews with journalists, educators, media activists and government officials during meetings in Amman from May 10-13, 2014. It also draws on reports from the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Jordan, as well as correspondence between IPI and government representatives in Amman.

! ! Recent IPI statements on Jordan ! Learning lessons from Jordan’s website licensing law (May 13, 2014) ! IPI urges release of jailed Jordanian publisher, editor (Oct. 25, 2013) ! Ending Internet restrictions in Jordan (Oct. 10, 2013) ! IPI and partners complete joint Jordan emergency press freedom mission (June 26, 2013) ! IPI letters to Jordanian king, prime minister urge lifting of news website closures (June 16, 2013) ! Jordanian authorities block more than 200 Internet news websites (June 3, 2013) ! ! About IPI !

IPI is a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists dedicated to furthering and safeguarding press freedom, promoting the free flow of news and information, and improving the practices of journalism. Formed in 1950 at Columbia University by 34 leading editors from 15 countries on the belief that a free press would contribute to the creation of a better world, IPI today includes members in more than 120 countries and holds consultative status with the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

International Press Institute Spiegelgasse 2/29 Vienna 1010 Austria Telephone: +43 1 512 90 11 www.freemedia.at Twitter: #globalfreemedia

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