Source: Ceylon Today

The Women and Media Collective expressed concern, over any indication of State control over the Media and the consequences it has on the access to information during a critical period such as when exercising one’s franchise.

Issuing a statement on the proposed 20th Amendment, the Collective cited Clause 20(3) of the Bill, which proposes to introduce a duty on all Media institutions, to comply with any guidelines issued to them by the Election Commission in respect of, holding of any election or referendum, as problematic.

Addressing aspects pertaining to the free Media and the right to information (RTI) in the proposed 20th Amendment, the Collective further noted that the operation of the RTI mechanism is at risk by its exclusion from Clause six of the 20th Amendment.

The RTI Act requires appointments to the RTI Commission to be made on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council (CC). However, the Parliamentary Council that replaces the CC in the proposed 20th Amendment, has not been empowered to make these appointments, they added.

“As a fundamental right and a crucial element of modern democratic societies, access to information must be safeguarded. This mechanism was widely used since its enactment, and therefore potential restrictions to access and the availability of information are regressive and should be condemned’.