The Information Integrity Forum has conducted an analysis of the 93 amendments of draft law on Independent Media Commission with the view of understanding the level of implementation of recommendations provided by the Council of Europe (CoE) dated 24 May 2024.
The table below provides three categories of implementation of CoE recommendations by the Committee on Public Administration, Local Governance, Media, and Rural Development of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. The first category is marked in green and shows recommendations that were fully addressed. The second category is marked in yellow and shows recommendations that were partially addressed. The third category is marked in red and shows recommendations that were not addressed.
Out of twelve main CoE recommendations, ten of them, or 83 percent, have not been addressed by the Media Committee.
The Information Integrity Forum was established as an informal mechanism with the support of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in December 2021, to facilitate internal dialogue among key stakeholders on possible solutions to problems of the media and information environment in Kosovo. The publications and reactions of the Information Integrity Forum do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of NDI and USAID.
Council of Europe Recommendations | Has the recommendation been addressed? |
|
Not addressed |
|
Not addressed
Not addressed |
|
Not addressed
Not addressed |
|
Not addressed |
|
Partially addressed |
|
Not addressed |
|
Partially addressed |
|
Not addressed
Not addressed |
|
Not addressed |
CoE recommendations | Which article should have been amended? | Has the recommendation been considered? | Analysis | |
1 | Clarify the purpose of the Law
|
Article 1 | Not addressed | Section 2.1 recommends changing the scope of the law |
2 | Define obligations of media services
|
Article 51
Article 51 |
Not addressed
Not addressed |
Section 2.2. recommends to include the obligations on media services. |
3 | Remove unnecessary definitions
|
Article 3, paragraph 1.1.3 | Not addressed | Section 3.1 recommends removing the definition of “online audiovisual media services”. |
4 | Differentiate regulatory approaches
|
Article 30
Article 33 |
Not addressed
Not addressed |
Section 3.1 on regulatory regime recommend to apply different regulatory approaches to different services. |
5 | Clarify licensing and registration requirements
|
Article 30
Article 33 |
Not addressed
Not addressed |
Sections 3.2.1 - 3.2.3 recommends introduction of notification or registration system for on demand and VSP. |
6 | Establish proportional sanctions and fines
|
Article 56
Article 56 |
Not addressed
Not addressed |
Section 1.3 recommends introduction of principle of proportionality in determining fines. |
7 | Conduct consultation and ensure inclusivity
|
Partially addressed
One public consultation was organised before CoE provided its legal opinion. Previously, civil society representatives approached the government and the parliament to collaborate and contribute but neglected. |
Section 1.4 recommends meaningful consultations with civil society actors and experts. | |
8 | Clarify competences and powers of the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) and strengthen its independence
|
Article 4
Article 55 Articles 14-16 |
Not addressed
Not addressed Not addressed |
Section 4 provides various recommendations on independence of the national regulatory authority. |
9 | Enhance media ownership transparency
|
Article 42
Article 26 |
Partially addressed
- Ownership of media for political parties and religious organisations is prohibited. Some minimum criteria to secure media pluralism were included in the draftlaw.
|
Section 5 provides recommendations on media ownership and media pluralism. |
10 | Establish a media support fund
|
Article 8
Article 8 |
Not addressed
Not addressed |
Section 5.3 recommends introduction of funds to support the media and include some minimum standards of its functioning. |
11 | Promote self-regulation and co-regulation
|
Article 4
Article 4 |
Not addressed
Not addressed |
Section 3.4 recommends cooperation with self regulation body and its empowerment. |
12 | Address disinformation and promote media literacy
|
Article 10
Article 10 |
Not addressed
Not addressed The new provision on media literacy attempts to address media literacy but only for AVMS and not for online, as recommended by the legal opinion. In addition, a new provision was introduced to oblige the IMC to draft a by law on disinformation – amendment 79. |
Section 3.5 provides a list of recommendations on combating disinformation. |
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