Well-researched stories damaging the UAE’s economy will not fall foul of law

News stories interpreted as damaging to the national economy will not be illegal under a draft media law, as long as journalists have checked their facts and given the subject of the story a chance to respond, according to the chief of the Government body that drafted the bill.

Writing in today’s The National, Saqr Ghobash, the Minister of Labour and chairman of the National Media Council (NMC) responded to the controversy surrounding the proposed legislation, which some journalists and lawyers have criticised for being too vague. “It has been suggested that the draft law will make it illegal to publish anything that could be interpreted as being potentially damaging to the national economy,” he wrote.

“That is not the case. What the draft law does state, however, [is] that the media has a duty to undertake the appropriate efforts to check their facts before running stories, critical or otherwise.”