A review and analysis of the laws and regulations concerning speech and the press in the GCC countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

1. GCC Media
Laws: Review
and Analysis
By Dr. Matt J. Duffy
Doha Centre
for Media Freedom

2. Project
 Doha Centre
suggested, supported this
analysis
 Much is known about
restrictions to free
speech, press in GCC
 Little known about legal
mechanisms that create GCC:
this environment Bahrain, Kuwait, Om
an, Qatar, Saudi
 Must know where we Arabia and United
are, to know how to Arab Emirates
move forward

3. Research
 Primarysources: Media laws, penal
codes, regulations from six GCC countries
 Some media laws (Saudi, Oman) were not
available anywhere in English.
 Doha Centre translated them and will publish on
site as part of final project
 Secondary sources: Accounts from books, press
reports and NGOs
 Withparticular attention paid
to which laws, regulations
used to restrict speech, press
 Result: 80-page report

4. Overview
Reporters Without Freedom House
Country Borders Ranking (2011) Press Freedom Category (2012)
(1 to 179) (Free, Partly Free, or Not Free)
Bahrain 173 Not Free
Kuwait 78 Partly Free
Oman 117 Not Free
Qatar 114 Not Free
Saudi Arabia 158 Not Free
UAE 112 Not Free

5. Findings
 Most of countries featured similar laws
 Can this be traced back to British rule?
 Kuwait’s laws largely as restrictive as
rest, but active parliament, culture of
public debate helped its relative rankings
 Saudi Arabia has no official penal code.
Observers say laws often quite fluid, with
authorities making arrests then later
deciding which specific laws were broken

6. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 All Constitutions except Saudi contained
clause guaranteeing “freedom of expression”
 All offered “within limits of law” caveat
 Not necessarily surprising, nor different than
other countries
 All countries do limit freedom of expression in
some way… but where the line is drawn is
what differs between GCC, countries with
developed press freedoms

7. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 Criminal defamation laws
 Aim to protect reputation
 Can be used to squelch any criticism or
objective reporting
 Truth not necessarily a defense
 Lead to jail for journalists, which prompts huge
self-censorship
 Recommendation: Civil defamation laws
 Allow courts to fine journalists who defame
 Specify truth is always a defense
 Different thresholds for public vs. private figures

8. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 AllGCC countries require
the licensing of journalists
 Leads to self-censorship because journalists
can worry that their licenses will be revoked
 Recommendation: No licenses
 Allow journalists to self-regulate
 Countries with strong protections for press
freedom tend to feature journalism groups
that stress high ethical standards (and no
licensing.)

9. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 AllGCC countries list prohibitions
journalists must follow
 Don’t report anything:
 That will harm the national economy
 Upset the public order
 Critical of an Arab state, leader
 Recommendation: No broad restrictions
 Instead of “upset public order,” ban the
incitement of “imminent lawless action.”
 Much less broad

10. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 AllGCC countries feature
prohibitions against “insulting”
or “criticizing” the ruler
 i.e., lese-majeste laws
 Common in British colonial laws
 Recommendations:
 Eliminate these prohibitions
 Insulting prohibitions, though, carry cultural
weight in Arab world…

11. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 “Truth” mandated in reporting
 Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
and Oman
 Sounds like a good idea – why shouldn’t
reporting be truthful?
 But, leads to self-censorship
 Recommendations:
 Eliminate calls for “truth” in reporting
 Truth should be used in civil defamation
cases – so factual errors in reporting can
lead to financial damages.

12. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 No media laws speak to
value of journalism as
a force for good in society
 Journalism treated as industry
that must simply be regulated
 In countries with developed press freedoms,
attempts to punish journalists balanced by
understood value of free, critical press
 Recommendation: Add language to
media laws like from Abu Dhabi Media
Zone “content guidelines”…

13. Conclusions &
Recommendations
 Abu Dhabi Media Zone
content guidelines:
 Protects journalists who
engage in: “the exposure of
crime, corruption, antisocial
behavior, injustice or serious
impropriety, protecting public health or
safety, exposing lies, hypocrisy or materially
misleading claims made by individuals or
organizations, disclosing incompetence, and
negligence or dereliction of duty that affects
the public.”

14. The End
 Thanks for listening!
 Full report slated for release on
Doha Centre for Media Freedom’s
website by end of year.
 www.dc4mf.org
 Will
submit shortened version to
Communication Law and Policy
 www.mattjduffy.com  My website
 @mattjduffy  Follow me on Twitter