ANM urges gov’t to quit controlling freedom of speech

The New Macau Association (ANM) has called on the government to stop manipulating the media, following proposed changes to the Civil Protection Law, which is currently open for public consultation. ANM has emphasized the media’s civil responsibility to report on the government’s exercise of authority.

The bill includes the establishment of a new crime of creating “false social alarm.”

Those who spread false rumors during crisis periods, such as catastrophes, accidents, disease outbreaks, or terrorist attacks, may be caught under the new regulation that imposes harsher penalties in addition to the ones currently established by the Macau Penal Code.

Under the proposed regulation, the punishment would be increased from six months’ imprisonment to three years.

The task of contributing to “social harmony” and the enforcement of these rules will also apply to the media, with the government addressing the “added responsibility of support on the disclosure of information by media outlets” in the proposed change.

“No media should be responsible to government. The media should only obey the law,” association member Sulu Sou said.

The association believes that the media will only become the voice of the government if it reports only on a specified range of topics regulated by the government itself.

Regarding the “false social alarm” crime, ANM considers it the government’s responsibility to release timely, open and correct information.

“Most of the articles related to crimes in [any] laws involving freedom of speech have a disclaimer: to avoid letting the government abuse the articles in order to prosecute the public,” said Sou, adding that “however, this draft does not have a disclaimer, and apparently the proposal has not considered how to protect the freedom of speech.”

The association calls for the government to clearly define the “social security matters” that will be within the scope of this law, and to clearly exclude demonstrations and incidents in which people exercise their civil rights.

In addition, Sou commented that “under the government’s arrangement, Macau is a very dangerous city.”

“The media does not need the government to teach it how to do things,” said Sou.

Regarding the heavy punishment that the new bill proposes, Sou commented, “the public hopes that government officials can be accountable. [However, according to the proposal], there will not be just a little bit of punishment [targeting] the public.”

Furthermore, ANM urges the government not to suppress freedom of speech.