The Doha Centre for Media Freedom (DCMF) has welcomed the progress exhibited by the local media in providing extensive coverage of domestic issues. The local media’s lengthy coverage of international criticism of the conditions facing foreign workers in Qatar is a good example in this regard.

“DCMF documented no violations against media workers in Qatar during the year 2013, and the centre has observed an encouraging strive from media outlets to eradicate the practice of self-censorship,” according to the Annual Report 2013 released yesterday.

A comparative analysis conducted by Dr Matt Duffy for DCMF on media laws and regulation in the GCC shows that all the GCC countries - Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman - share several traits regarding their approach to regulating journalists and communication. With the exception of Saudi Arabia, they all guarantee freedom of expression to some extent.

However, they all contain a similar clause “…within the limits of the law”, which amplifies that some restrictions must prevail. Such laws limiting the press in the GCC are far too restrictive to allow journalists to conduct their work in a beneficial manner. One trait shared by every country is the legal approach toward defamation charges - criminal rather than civil.

Another feature shared by every GCC country is the long list of prohibitions in their media laws.

Telling journalists that they can’t write stories that may “damage the economy”, “upset the public order” or “criticise rulers” can lead to an inordinate amount of self-censorship for
any practising journalist hoping to avoid trouble.

The media laws of some GCC states contain clauses that in some way mandate journalists to ensure their reports are “true”. In practice, the requirement for journalists to always report “the truth” is simply outside the realm of possibility. Government prosecutions over false reports tend to have simply one effect - self-
censorship.

DCMF has been actively engaged in the ongoing discussion of media situation in Qatar, especially on the impending media and cyber crime laws.

On Qatar’s draft media law, which has been criticised by international human rights bodies, DCMF issued the following statement: “On first sight, the proposed draft law contains a number of restrictions on the development of free and independent media, which seem in contradiction with Qatar’s defence of freedoms
and progress especially since the
beginning of the Arab Spring, and
aspirations in the field of development and becoming an information society.”

Regarding the cyber crime law, DCMF said: “DCMF thinks that any attempt to regulate content on the Internet is bound to fail (due to) the worldwide nature of the Internet.”

The centre also found that more emphasis must be placed on developing investigative journalism in media houses to enshrine the values of transparency and accountability throughout society in general.