TARAWA (Pacnews) — The Kiribati government has rejected allegations that it is attempting to stifle freedom of expression through amendments to its Newspaper Registration Act.
Johnson Honimae, head of Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. and president of the Pacific Islands News Association, last week attacked the proposed legislation, labeling it “draconian.”
But the government says the amendments are “intended to defend the ordinary person (little guy) from false and malicious reporting by newspapers.”
The amendment, the government says, would require newspapers that publish articles attacking individuals to seek that person’s comments and publish them in the same article. It says the new law will also provide “a speedy avenue for a person to lodge his or her complaints about a particular newspaper to the Registrar, who is empowered to…de-register such a newspaper.”
This is designed to address what the government sees as a flaw in the legal system that “does not immediately address the grievances of people, especially the little guy who is handicapped by lack of know-how and finance to match the capability of the ‘big guy’ in the newspaper.”
