Source: Blic
The changes made to the Information Law contain clauses outlining very strict penalties for violations and infractions made by journalists and the media were the reason to remind ourselves of the issue of responsibility to objectively, truthfully, and fully communicate information to the general public. Namely, even though the aforementioned penalties are very strict, even stricter than the penalties outlined in the Criminal Code for similar offences, some showed understanding for this. They tried to justify their stance by indicating that certain negative phenomena in our media need to be confronted. One cannot deny the fact that publishing and reporting false information, twisting the truth and other forms of misinformation of the general public are obvious in some of the media. The other question is whether this justifies such strict penalties and other measures outlined in the present law.
Since we have already mentioned the misinformation of the general public, we should also consider the failure to inform the public who has a right to know and should know. It is ‘interesting' to note how this is ‘regulated' in the present Law on Confidential Information proposal. The proposal states that, for example, a journalist, or anyone else for that matter, could end up in jail for disclosing a ‘secret'. How high would the penalty be depends solely on the level of ‘secrecy' and certain other circumstances; however, in the worst-case scenario, the penalty could be up to 15 years of imprisonment. An interesting question comes to mind - what risks does a functionary take when he fails to disclose information to the general public which people are entitled to and need to know or as it is stated in the proposal ‘declares data confidential'? According to the proposal, he will only receive a monetary penalty ranging from 5 to 50 thousand dinars. He would receive the same penalty yet again if he continues declaring data confidential and fails to comply with the directives given by the Commissioner for Information to remove the confidentiality distinction. In any case, he would never be going to jail. Good measure, isn't it? Commissioner for Information
