Reporters Without Borders has condemned Chinese proposals to step up censorship of the media’s coverage of natural catastrophes, public health crises and industrial accidents contained in a crisis management bill that came before the standing committee of the National People’s Congress on 24 June 2006. The bill envisages fines of 50,000 to 100,000 yuan (5,000 to 10,000 euros) for media that publish unauthorised information on such subjects.
“Adopting a law on crisis situations is not a bad thing in itself, but it is unacceptable to turn such a law into a instrument of censorship,” the press freedom organisation said. “The government views the media as enemies in the struggle against epidemics, accidents and natural catastrophes. But lives would have undoubtedly been saved if the media had been free during the SARS crisis in 2003.” Reporters Without Borders added: “This bill returns China’s journalists to the situation of censorship and self-censorship that prevailed before the SARS crisis. This is shocking. We call on the national assembly not to approve this bill as it stands.”
The Thebeijingnews.com website said the media risk fines if they publish news reports about “the management or development of emergencies [without the approval of the authorities] or if they publish false reports.” Local authorities have the job of distributing news, and of supervising and managing the media in times of crisis. They are to “publish information about emergency situations only if it has no impact on their management.”
A Chinese journalist with an international radio station said: “This law will discourage journalists. More and more media want to work for the general interest on these issues but they are being sidelined by the authorities.”
The official news agency Xinhua said the bill was drafted as a result of the SARS epidemic. Censorship imposed by the government’s publicity department (the former propaganda department) during the SARS epidemic kept the public in ignorance of the real situation for several months.
(Source: Reporters Without Borders)
