- Int’l report on press freedom in South Asia highlights hike in media rights-related violations during and after the ‘aragalaya’ in SL
From May last year (2022) to last month (April of this year – 2023), media related rights violations in the South Asian region including in Sri Lanka have increased by 19% compared to the previous year. Among the reported cases in this period are 13 targeted killings of journalists and media workers, 76 cases of jailing or detaining journalists, and 257 media related rights violations. This is in addition to various other threats posed to press freedom and journalists and media workers by several other factors.
This was emphasised in the 21st annual South Asia press freedom report 2022-2023, issued by the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific under the title ‘Pressure and Polarisation: Powering Media Resistance in South Asia’ which stressed that in Sri Lanka’s case, especially during the “aragalaya” (the protest movement that sought the resignation of the previous Government led by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the ongoing economic crisis), the media faced serious challenges, as journalists were assaulted by the Police and the military, subjected to tear gas and water cannon attacks while reporting on protests, and faced increased surveillance, threats and intimidation.
SL’s economic crisis and the media
The report described that the economic crisis, along with the global increase in the price of paper, pushed the print media to the edge. Quoting several leading local newspapers, it explained that while the newspaper industry was affected by the price of imported paper (necessary to print newspapers) which doubled during the said period, some newspapers even had to stop or reduce printing certain newspapers and publications. “The suspension in August of imported paper, printing machines, spare parts, sound and video recording equipment including cameras, and transmission apparatuses for broadcasting, made the hard times harder, though the restriction on cameras and transmission apparatuses was lifted in December.”
Adding that increased travel costs during this period also affected the media industry, which in turn compelled journalists to minimise travel and depend on online news gathering and reporting, the report explained how the economic crisis affected journalists’ and media workers’ jobs.
“Low pay and job insecurity, regular issues faced by Sri Lankan journalists, were compounded by the crisis. A survey of 200 journalists conducted by the Free Media Movement (FMM) published in November found that 50% of the respondents earned less than Rs. 15,000 per month. Only 11% of the respondents earned more than Rs. 50,000. Provincial journalists who usually work for several media institutions are especially vulnerable to low pay and job insecurity. The survey also found that only 26% of the respondents had social security such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) or a pension. While 74% of the respondents expressed insecurity about their future, 53% said that they were insecure about their profession. Significantly, 13% said that they were not allowed to join a trade union, as their institutions had banned it, despite such membership being a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.”
Reporting on the ‘aragalaya’
The safety of Sri Lankan journalists and media workers was also underscored in the report: “Safety and security continue to be concerns for Sri Lankan journalists. More than half, or 58% of the journalists who participated in the FMM survey, said that they had faced safety and security concerns during their work. Significantly, 71% of them said that they were not satisfied with the way that their media institution had intervened in such issues.” These concerns largely pertained to the challenges faced by journalists and media workers during the “aragalaya” movement. On the repression of dissent, the periodical human rights situation update published by the Inform Human Rights Documentation Centre, had recorded 36 incidents of rights violations relating to the media and the social media from May, 2022, to January, 2023, in which at least 50 individuals including 37 journalists and nine social media content creators were victimised. At least 21 were subjected to physical violence, while eight were arrested, and 12 were summoned or visited by the Police or the military, while two others were obstructed and threatened by the military. While more than 50% of the incidents were reported around the City of Colombo, around 28% of the incidents were reported from the former war affected Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Stressing that journalists who covered anti-Government protests and mob attacks faced repression, the report described that in some cases, despite journalists or media workers being in possession of media identity cards (IDs), were physically attacked and subjected to tear gas attacks by the Police and the military. British Broadcasting Corporation Tamil’s journalist Jereen Samuel and his team, Derana Television (TV’s) Pradeep Sanjeewa Wickramsinghe, several Sirasa TV workers, and around 10 journalists in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, were among those who faced such harassments, as per the report.
Legal environment relating to media freedom in SL
The report emphasised Sri Lanka’s situation saying that the state of emergency, curfews, and increased powers granted to the military and also the declaration of high security zones resulted in restricting the exercise of rights and increasing challenges for journalists, protesters and the public.
In regard to the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA), it expressed concerns that journalists were among the groups that were often arrested and detained through the PTA for more than four decades, and that it enabled prolonged arbitrary detention, extracting false confessions through torture, and targeting minority communities and civil society groups.
“The Government proposes to introduce a new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) to replace the PTA, and other draft laws to regulate cyber security, including an online safety Bill to ‘combat online falsehoods and manipulation’. Civil society groups and media rights groups have not been consulted. Attempts by previous Governments to introduce such laws have often been met with strong criticism and suspicion from media rights groups and rights activists, as such laws with vague definitions and sweeping powers, are likely to introduce new restrictions and regulations on the freedom of expression and other fundamental freedoms.”
What is more, the report pointed out that with regard to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which has allowed journalists to access verified information from official agencies, the path of obtaining such information has not always been smooth as the Act’s powers have been challenged when attempts were made to obtain information from various public institutions.
Discussing the legal situation pertaining to curbing disinformation, it added: “Currently, there is no law that tackles fake news and misinformation. However, arrests are made under Penal Code provisions and the PTA. During a meeting with media heads in Sri Lanka on 6 March 2023, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that the Government was working to introduce new laws to regulate social media, similar to Singapore’s. This has been met with strong misgivings by the civil society and the media. On 19 April 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a joint proposal by the then Minister of Justice and Minister of Mass Media to draft a Bill to regulate online falsehoods. In March, 2023, a group of activists, including some journalists, issued a letter in response to the President’s statement, and noted that they are concerned as to whether the move might be used to advance ongoing efforts of surveillance and to curtail the freedom of expression in the country.”
Strengthening media freedom in SL
Adding that responding to the economic and political crisis has also shown the need to build the professional capacity of the media, the report noted that providing more training and other opportunities, including trade union leadership, for women and young journalists is essential to building gender and youth inclusive media workplaces. It was also highlighted that it is important that media institutions have effective workplace policies to address gender based violence and sexual harassment.
“Existing difficulties with media IDs, news website registrations, and surveillance on journalists must be addressed, with policy actions taken to ensure the safety and protection of journalists while addressing specific challenges faced by youth, digital journalists, and provincial journalists. The lack of formal training and physical danger are just some of the downsides in this field. From the data gathered by the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions, it is evident that journalists in Sri Lanka are grappling with myriad challenges with little prospects for the future, whilst they report from the ground. There is concern that these problems may tempt vulnerable journalists to indulge in unethical practices, compromising on ethical journalism,” it explained.
Press freedom in South Asia
About the South Asian situation, the report said that the region began a slow recuperation from an eventful post-Covid-19 year. This is with the media in Afghanistan grappling with the new normal post-Taliban takeover and the Sri Lankan media adjusting to severe expenditure and resource related cuts following the economic crisis that crippled the country in 2022. Press freedom continued to be a major concern in Pakistan despite the ouster of an authoritarian regime and the installation of a Prime Minister who promised more independence to the media. Noting that the electoral process in messy democracies in the region saw restrictions on the media in Nepal and parts of India while the Bhutanese media was confronted by barriers to access information, it explained that religious extremism and polarisation dogged the media in Bangladesh and the Maldives. Moreover, the erosion of autonomy due to corporate takeovers of the independent media was the most visible in India, which also topped the global list for the highest number of internet shutdowns for the fifth consecutive year, according to the report.
In addition, the media was forced to confront the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the digital media space in particular and to create robust editorial filters to tackle the challenge posed by tools like ChatGPT, where the time tested methods of controlling the independent media remained a concern. The report further noted that during the said period, 13 journalists lost their lives in the line of duty, while journalists were subjected to 140 targeted attacks from various quarters, i.e. Governments, politicians, mobs, militants, and vested business interests.
Restrictions and surveillance imposed on online spaces was also a major concern in the region.