Palestinian journalists hamstrung by Israel, PA law, internet giants
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Daoud Kuttab reports in Al-Monitor:
The difficulties facing Palestinian journalists have led many to express themselves solely on digital media. But even with this relatively free medium, they are now dealing with a restrictive cybercrime law and pressure from Israel and social media companies in the absence of clearly defined rights and responsibilities. These three powerful forces are threatening press freedom in Palestine.
Palestinian officials including government spokesman Ibrahim Milhem, who spoke to Al-Monitor, insist that while press freedom is guaranteed by both local and international law, “the government will not tolerate hate speech, slander and other forms of defamation on digital media.”
Nibal Thawabteh, director of the Media Development Center at Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor that Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has been a supporter of journalism. “Prime Minister Shtayyeh is a smart person who has spent serious efforts on issues of development and breaking away from the occupation, and for that he has built a strong connection between the government and the people, and media has been an important vehicle for that.”
Walid Batrawi, a veteran journalist and media instructor, told Al-Monitor that while journalists are “practicing their profession freely, the number of professionals is decreasing and journalists are practicing self-censorship more and more due to the overall restrictive atmosphere.”
Press freedom issues therefore are increasingly being fought on the digital landscape, according to Palestinian human rights and media freedom activists.
The latest use of the Palestinian cybercrime law against a journalist was the case of Tulkarem-based journalist Sami al-Sai, who was accused of running a Facebook page critical of certain Palestinian security officials in Tulkarem and for being a supporter of Hamas. His lawyer Muhannad Karaje told Al-Monitor that Sai was released July 1 on bail. He said that the judge was convinced there was no need for any further investigation in the case.