By NNN-KUNA
Kuwait : Kuwaiti Minister of Information Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah said here Monday the adoption of media regulation laws would not mean restricting or muzzling freedoms.
New media technological factors ought to be regulated, the minister told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) ahead of leaving for Cairo to attend the extraordinary meeting of Arab ministers of information.
“The matter does not fall within the framework of surveillance, but, rather, regulations,” he said.
On an ongoing debate about the statute of a recently passed audio-visual law, the minister said Article 20 of the said law entitled him to issue the statute and relevant necessary resolutions within six months of implementation.
The article in question also regulates the licensing of audio-visual artworks, he said, noting that “Licensing means that I have to read the text first. How can I permit something without reading it.”
He called on the opponents to read such an article particularly, adding that subsequent decrees would be adopted by the Ministry of Information within the context of the newly passed law.
A fresh media policy vision is to be made public in March, he said.
On the agenda of the extraordinary meeting of Arab ministers of information, he said satellite transmission would be discussed by a panel of Arab experts that worked out a working paper on satellite and electronic transmission criteria for Arab countries.
The two-day meeting will kick off in Cairo on Tuesday to mull over Arab satellite and electronic media legislations.