Media law and regulation

The role of the media, both mass media, community media and small and medium-
sized media outlets, is instrumental in realising and exercising the right to freedom of
expression. Media regulation is enforced by of law, rules or procedures and varies
across the world. They exist to protect freedom of expression and media freedom
and regulate media markets, ownership, infrastructure and technical standards and,
importantly, protect public interests such as media pluralism and diversity.

Regional instruments, a category of international law – see the page on International

Standards – , offer insight into which areas should be protected by national law and
regulated to defend the right to freedom of expression and media freedom. This
page does not attempt to compare all relevant sections contained within these
regional instruments, but will mention a few to clarify the main areas

The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information

in Africa 2019 of the African Court of Human Rights (ACHR), covers 16 principles to
which national legislation should adhere, i.a. and covers media diversity and
pluralism, independent, community and private media, criminal measures and
prohibited speech and economic measures that ‘promote a conducive economic
environment in which all media can flourish.’

Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American

Commission on Human Rights of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
(IACHR) covers 13 principles, i.a. prohibition of prior censorship, source protection,
privacy laws, public funding and advertising and plurality and diversity and anti-trust
law. Article 13(3) of the Inter-American Convention, protecting freedom of thought
and opinion, states that

The right of expression may not be restricted by indirect methods or means, such as
the abuse of government or private controls over newsprint, radio broadcasting
frequencies, or equipment used in the dissemination of information, or by any other
means tending to impede the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions.

The Council of Europe (CoE) Committee of Ministers adopted a declaration urging

Member States to ‘put in place a regulatory and policy framework that facilitates the
operation of quality journalism, while not constraining media outlets’ editorial and
operational independence. Recommended measures include a beneficial tax regime,
financial support schemes and the possibility of media outlets to operate as not-for-
profit organisations and receive donations from philanthropic programmes.’

Furthermore, the CoE Committee of Ministers emphasises in a

2018 recommendation on media pluralism and transparency of ownership that
States ‘have a positive obligation to foster a favourable environment for freedom of
expression offline and online’, which includes that ‘[s]tates should guarantee that the
media are free and pluralistic.’
 See the CoE website for a full overview of recommendations and declarations in the
field of media and information society

Regulation
Different parts of the a media landscapes can be regulated in different ways:

 Self-regulation: a system of self-regulation where news media (collectively) draw up

their own regulations and take full responsibility for monitoring compliance with those
regulations through a media council
 Statutory-regulation: The state sets the relevant legislative or regulatory rules and
monitors and enforces compliance in a transparent way
 Co-regulation is a hybrid form where self-regulation ultimately is back-stopped by
statutory regulation

Media councils typically are independent industry self-regulatory bodies that will
defend the independence and operational autonomy of the media. In some
countries, such as in Kenya, the media council is a statutory body established by a
media act. Areas of self-regulation can include:

 codes of conduct for journalists

 complaint mechanisms
 training of journalists
 advertising

Areas of statutory regulation can differ greatly per country, but common areas for a
regulator are:

 broadcasting regulation and frequency allocation

 infrastructural regulation
 internet regulation
 advertising and election broadcasting
 protection of independence public media and operational autonomy
 (cross-) media ownership
 media diversity
 licensing and taxation

In countries with limited space for independent media, state regulators typically
control:

 publishing and licensing

 content
 issuing of press cards
 internet access