(Beirut) \u2013\u00a0Lebanon\u2019s parliament should amend the recently-adopted media law to fully remove all provisions in Lebanese law that restrict the right to free expression, Human Rights Watch said today. Parliament passed the law on August 11, 2026, but a new draft law\u00a0introduced by 10 members of parliament on October 5 offers amendments to the law that would resolve its key problematic provisions.
\u201cGiven the history of public officials and powerful individuals abusing Lebanon\u2019s laws to clamp down on journalists, activists, and artists, parliament should act to prevent further abuse,\u201d said\u00a0Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cNo one should face abusive retaliation for peacefully expressing their views, and parliament has a chance to end these abuses right here and now.\u201d
The media law, which parliament adopted after 16 years of\u00a0deliberation, includes significant improvements. Some of the key advances include ending pretrial detention for free expression-related crimes committed online or through media-related means. The law establishes individuals\u2019 right to create online media platforms or issue publications without prior state authorization and limits the military court\u2019s jurisdiction over expression-related crimes committed online or through media-related means. It also decriminalizes defamation and insult in certain cases, transferring them to civil court jurisdiction.
The law also includes provisions that would promote media independence, including by prohibiting undue interference in journalists\u2019 work, promoting media workers\u2019 rights to unionize, protecting sources\u2019 anonymity, and limiting the ability of security services to search and seize journalists\u2019 electronic equipment and documents.
The adopted media law, however, includes a provision, article 104(b), which criminalizes the \u201cintentional fabrication of falsehoods and dissemination of false and harmful news\u201d providing for a sentence of up to three years in prison. For decades, Lebanese journalists, artists, media organizations, and civil society groups have repeatedly faced\u00a0lawsuits based on\u00a0criminal defamation charges and other vague legal provisions in retaliation for their work.
This provision, which includes vague and undefined terms such as \u201charmful news,\u201d risks enabling continued threats of criminal proceedings against journalists as well as such lawsuits.
While the adopted media law decriminalizes defamation and insult in some cases, provisions found in Lebanon\u2019s Penal Code, which the law does not mention, annul, or make inapplicable, would continue to criminalize libel, slander, and insult directed against a foreign state or its president, representatives, army, flag, or emblems.\u00a0
Such provisions also criminalize defamation against Lebanon\u2019s president, state institutions, and army, among others, imposing prison sentences of up to two years. Provisions of the Lebanon Military Justice Code, which also remain in effect, include the criminalization of \u201cpublicly disparaging the flag or the army or infringing upon its dignity, reputation or morale,\u201d imposing a prison sentence of up to three years.
The amendments sought in the October 5 draft law would annul article 104(b) of the media law and make these articles, in both Lebanon\u2019s Penal Code and Military Justice Code, inapplicable to cases covered by the media law, including for both media-related or online forms of expression.\u00a0
The amendments would also limit security forces\u2019 ability to interrogate and investigate media professionals for expression-related crimes, limiting these powers solely to the public prosecution\u2019s jurisdiction. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly\u00a0documented violations, including, physical and psychological interrogation tactics and bias by Lebanese security agencies in enforcing criminal defamation laws against journalists and activists.\u00a0
Since Lebanon\u2019s media law only applies to acts of media-related and online forms of expression, Lebanon\u2019s parliament should fully repeal all provisions, including in Lebanon\u2019s Penal Code and Military Justice Code, related to criminal defamation or insult, Human Rights Watch said. It should make any such cases, including offline and non-media related expression, subject to civil court jurisdiction, in accordance with international human rights standards.
\u201cFor years Lebanese civil society has fought for increased protections to the right to freedom of expression and the press,\u201d Kaiss said. \u201cPassing the proposed amendments to the media law would be a breakthrough.\u201d\u00a0
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