A newsstand in the Hamra district of Beirut, in 2019. (Credit: AFP archive photo)
Something important happened recently when Parliament adopted the Media Law, No. 69/2026, on Aug. 11. President Joseph Aoun signed it on Aug. 27, and it entered into force on Sept. 3with its publication in the Official Gazette.Lebanon became the country in the Middle East with the strongest media law, in terms of protecting human rights. But the Media Law has one very serious flaw, namely the criminal provisions in Article 104, which should be repealed. But that fact should not overshadow the significant achievement that the adoption of this law represents.Like anything truly worthwhile, it took a long time to achieve this victory, with 16 years of serious efforts to overhaul Lebanon’s media legislation. In 2010, then-MP Ghassan Moukheiber, in collaboration with the Maharat Foundation, submitted a first draft. That draft survived...
Something important happened recently when Parliament adopted the Media Law, No. 69/2026, on Aug. 11. President Joseph Aoun signed it on Aug. 27, and it entered into force on Sept. 3with its publication in the Official Gazette.Lebanon became the country in the Middle East with the strongest media law, in terms of protecting human rights. But the Media Law has one very serious flaw, namely the criminal provisions in Article 104, which should be repealed. But that fact should not overshadow the significant achievement that the adoption of this law represents.Like anything truly worthwhile, it took a long time to achieve this victory, with 16 years of serious efforts to overhaul Lebanon’s media legislation. In 2010, then-MP Ghassan Moukheiber, in collaboration with the Maharat Foundation, submitted a first draft. That draft survived...