Aridi Says Media Council Only Advisory Board as Fears Rise of Internet Censorship

Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi stressed on Sunday that the National Audiovisual Media Council does not have the right to ask Lebanese website hosts to register their sites at the Council.

Aridi, who is a former information minister, told al-Mustaqbal daily that the council is only an advisory board and cannot issue such decisions.

On Monday, the council’s president Abdul Hadi Mahfouz said the Council would begin accepting applications on November 1 after announcing plans to establish a database of media websites.

He claimed that the council’s decision was in accordance with the audiovisual media law 382 of 1994.

But the decision came at a time of pressure by Syria’s allies in Lebanon on media outlets over their coverage of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

It also came despite a lack of agreement by the government and the parliament on a new law regulating online media, drawing accusations about attempts by the March 8 forces to create internet censorship.

Information Minister Walid al-Daouq could launch a workshop and only ask the Council to make suggestions on the issue, Aridi said.

Since online publishing isn’t mentioned in the audiovisual law that dates back to 1994, nothing in the law allows the Council to ask the sites to register, he added.