New Draft Media Laws for Lebanon Limping through Parliament

Lebanon’s media laws are archaic and desperately need updating, but ensuring they reflect realities today requires a gargantuan effort by various stakeholders who’ve been at odds and often scuttle serious initiatives to move forward. Legislators, academics, journalists, civil society activists, and others have been attempting to catapult laws on the books into the 21st century, so far to no avail, but that could change. The only serious attempt to craft wording in tune with realities on the ground has come from Member of Parliament (MP) Ghassan Moukheiber, working with an NGO called Maharat (Arabic for skills), but even his draft law needs work and doesn’t fully meet the country’s requirements.