Government Adopts Proposals Of Audiovisual Professionals

MPs of the National People’s Assembly will begin discussing the draft law related to the audiovisual activity starting on October 20, after it was decided to introduce new amendments to the text by the government, in response to the demands of private channels’ owners and the sector’s professionals.

The Algerian government, through the Ministry of Communication, proposed new amendments to the text in response to the demands of the sector’s professionals, especially about the text of Article 30, which sets the percentage of natural persons’ contributions to the capital of public institutions at 40%, a point that sector’s professionals rejected, demanding that it should be reconsidered.

The amended wording of Article 30 presented to the members of the Culture and Communication Committee stated: “The contribution of journalists or media sector professionals to the social capital of the same legal person holding a license to exploit a public or thematic audiovisual communication service by Article 11 of the text of the law may be within a limit of 20% of social capital”.

Minister of Communications Mohamed Laagab previously confirmed during a meeting with members of the Culture and Communication Committee in the lower chamber of Parliament that Article 30, which specifies 40% for the contribution of natural persons to the capital of media institutions, if implemented will lead to the closure of all private television channels because they belong to private individuals and families with one capital.

It is known that the decision to cap the percentage of shares at 40% earlier was justified by preventing monopoly in channels, which, according to the legislator, may lead to influencing the media content and thus influencing the direction of national public opinion, especially in the audiovisual sector, where the law stipulates that there must be three or more partners, provided that the shares of one shareholder do not exceed 40%.

The government, represented by the Ministry of Communication, proposed reconsidering the text of Article 19 to allow licensed audiovisual communication services, whether general or thematic, to include programs and news bulletins according to a time frame determined by the independent national authority for audiovisual control, except audiovisual communication services belonging to the public sector from this ruling.

In a related context, the Minister of Communication, upon his visit to the Culture and Communication Committee of the National People’s Assembly, confirmed the necessity of discussing the two draft laws related to audiovisual, written and electronic journalism in public sessions in the National People’s Assembly, “as soon as possible,” noting that the organic law related to the media “remains frozen and inapplicable without the issuance of these two laws.”

The minister explained that the issuance of the two laws “will allow the issuance of applied and regulatory texts and the installation of bodies charged with regulating the media sector and promoting it in the field of controlling content and media material.”

The first official in charge of the communications sector indicated that there are “other articles that need to be amended, such as those related to the functioning and organization of the audiovisual control authority,” calling on the members of the committee to submit their proposals in this regard.

For reference, the audiovisual and written press laws will be on the discussion table in the National People’s Assembly at the end of the month once the general policy statement file is closed, as well as the Finance Law for the year 2024, especially since these projects were included during the previous session of the National Assembly, but the density of the agenda postponed them to other dates.