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Article

1 Nov 2011

Author:
Graham Minter, Day Associates

The media and human rights: Is there a role for governments?

[Scroll down] Lucy Amis has usefully drawn attention to the failure of parts of the media industry to live up to its role in advancing…human rights…For governments, this poses difficult dilemmas. Is more regulation part of the answer?...The problem is that any government move to introduce more regulation to protect the individual from human rights abuses by the media risks exposing that government to accusations that it is seeking to muzzle the press and restrict freedom of expression. Last year, a government in Latin America sought, no doubt with the best of intentions, to introduce a new law against racism and discrimination, including provision for fines, suspension of licences and removal of immunity for offending media and journalists. This caused an outcry from the press, a hunger strike, protest marches and criticism from the Inter-American Press Association.