(Bangkok) - The Maldives parliament is considering a new law that could silence independent media amid an escalating crackdown on basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should withdraw the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill, which would provide the Maldives government broad discretionary powers to control and regulate the media.

The draft media law is part of a broader effort by the administration of President Mohamed Muizzu to stifle dissent. The government has also proposed laws to reinstate the death penalty for drug-related crimes and to strip island councils of their administrative powers, undoing a central component of Maldives democratic governance established during the country's democratic transition in 2008. 

"President Muizzu has been chipping away at human rights since taking office in 2023, with media freedom being first in the crosshairs," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The Maldives government should abandon its thinly disguised attempts to quash dissent and instead focus on improving respect for basic rights."

On August 18, Abdul Hannan Abubakr - a parliament member who, despite being a registered independent, is closely affiliated with the government - submitted the media bill to the People's Majlis, the Maldives parliament. Under the legislation, the current Maldives Media Council and Maldives Broadcasting Commission would be replaced with a standalone media commission. This new body would be comprised of seven members, three of whom would be appointed by the president to oversee media operations. The parliament would have the power to remove commission members elected by media outlets at any time with a no-confidence vote, fueling fears about the commissions' independence. 

The commission would be empowered to order media outlets to issue correction notices on online content and impose fines from 5,000 Maldivian rufiyaa to 25,000 Maldivian rufiyaa (US$325 to $1,623) on journalists and media workers who fail to comply with their orders. The commission could suspend media outlets at will and block newspaper websites and halt broadcasts while complaints are investigated.

The government has moved quickly to adopt the measure. On August 24, Maldivian National Day, President Muizzu used his annual address to promote the media bill. Although Muizzu said that he has no intention of controlling the media, the law includes provisions that would make the vaguely worded "spreading fake news" a criminal offense. 

On August 27, the People's Majlis, which had been in recess, held an extraordinary parliamentary session to discuss the media bill, for which a majority of members voted in favor. 

However, on August 28, a parliamentary oversight committee decided to open a 10-day window for public opinion, including three days of consultations with media outlets starting August 31. The same day President Muizzu met with a group of leading journalists to discuss their concerns with the bill.

Since the bill was submitted, local journalists have staged protests outside the People's Majlis, saying the law would "dismantle free press" in the country. The demonstrations escalated on August 27. Police forcibly removed journalists peacefully protesting outside the President's Office building by dragging them into police vehicles. Journalists told Human Rights Watch that the police arrested five of the protesters and read them their rights before releasing them with a warning. The Maldives Police Service issued a statement later that day denying that any protesters were arrested.

Mohamed Junayd, a member of the Maldives Journalists Association's executive committee, told Human Rights Watch that the bill, if enacted, would "take the Maldives back to the pre-democratic era, as it would completely dismantle the self-regulatory framework enacted after the first democratic elections." He said that the law appears designed "to usher in an unchecked executive power that can run amok without any criticism or dissent, including the power to amend the country's constitution in a day." 

The 2025 World Press Freedom Index ranked Maldives 104th, dropping in recent years from 72nd in 2021. Journalists and media outlets in the Maldives already exercise significant self-censorship, particularly on sensitive topics due to concerns about physical and online violence, including receiving death threats for their reporting. Junayd expressed concern that the draft media law would push journalists to further self-censor out of fear of being prosecuted under the bill's "vague provisions."

The government's efforts to crack down on independent media appears part of a wider agenda by the ruling People's National Congress, which holds a supermajority in parliament, to restrict fundamental rights and freedoms in the Maldives. On July 28, the parliament proposed amendments to the Decentralization Act that would effectively strip island councils of their administrative powers to address local issues. 

On July 30, President Muizzu announced on social media that he had requested cabinet members to review proposed amendments to the Drug Act "with a view to imposing the death penalty for those convicted of smuggling or trafficking drugs." The amendments were initially proposed in December 2024 and have since been discussed by the Judiciary Committee on August 5 and 6, with the parliamentary proceeding expected to resume after the recess. Maldives has had a de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty since 1954. 

Imposing the death penalty for drug trafficking would violate the Maldives' obligations under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which obligates countries that have not abolished the death penalty to reserve its use "only for the most serious crimes," which United Nations experts widely agree do not include drug-related offenses. Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have called on the Maldives government to reject the introduction of the death penalty and to abolish the inhumane practice. 

"The Maldivian government should immediately withdraw the media bill and abandon efforts to reinstate the death penalty and strip island councils of their administrative powers," Pearson said. "President Muizzu should reverse his administration's increasingly authoritarian direction and instead commit to promoting and protecting human rights, including a free and independent media."

Source: Human Rights Watch