NNA — In a Media Alert issued on the need to decriminalize false news, Maharat Foundation stated that Lebanon stands at a pivotal moment in the reform of its media sector. After more than sixteen years of legislative discussions, consultations, and parliamentary deliberations, the Draft Media Law is closer than ever to adoption.

The proposed law represents one of the most significant reforms of media legislation in Lebanon in decades. It modernizes the legal framework governing the media sector by replacing criminal sanctions with civil liability for publication-related offences, strengthening the protection of journalists and their sources, promoting transparency of media ownership and financing, reinforcing media pluralism, and establishing a more independent regulatory framework.

However, the amendment introduced during the deliberations of the Joint Parliamentary Committees to paragraph (B) of Article 104 is inconsistent with the philosophy underpinning the reform. The provision stipulates that any person who "intentionally fabricates misleading information and publishes false and malicious news" may be punished by imprisonment for between three months and three years, as well as a fine.

This provision reintroduces criminal liability for publication-related conduct after the Draft Media Law had sought to replace criminal punishment with civil liability. Consequently, introducing a criminal offence for "false" or "misleading" information does not merely affect a single provision; it alters the overall logic of a reform whose central purpose was to remove publication-related disputes from the criminal sphere.

Maharat Foundation's Executive Director, Roula Mikhael, stated: 

"Lebanon should not lose the historic opportunity to adopt the Media Law after sixteen years of discussion. The required step is not to return the entire proposal to the beginning of the legislative process, but to preserve its reformist achievements and remove the ambiguity created by Article 104(B). Information integrity cannot be protected by imprisoning journalists. It is protected through transparency, independent journalism, media literacy, fact-checking, accountable platforms, and independent regulation."

The new Media Alert issued by Maharat Foundation examines Article 104(B) in light of international human rights law, comparative democratic practice, and recent European approaches to misinformation and disinformation. It draws on an interview conducted by Maharat Foundation with international media policy expert Marius Dragomir, Director of the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).

Dragomir explained: "From a comparative perspective this is a regression against a clear international trend: over the past two decades states have been repealing 'false news' offences, not adding them. Lebanon risks being cited as a counter-example precisely when it could be positioned as a regional model."

Maharat Foundation stressed that protecting information integrity is a legitimate and necessary public objective, but comparative experience shows that it is better achieved through transparency, platform accountability, media literacy, fact-checking, independent journalism, and targeted regulation of demonstrable harm, not through broad criminal offences that allow the State to determine what is true.

Five Messages to Members of Parliament Before the Next Plenary Session

• First: Lebanon has a historic opportunity to adopt the Media Law after more than sixteen years of legislative work.
• Second: The shift from criminal sanctions to civil liability constitutes the cornerstone of the reform and should be preserved as a fundamental achievement, one that positions it as a regional model to be emulated. 
• Third: Falsity alone does not justify criminal punishment under international human rights standards.
• Fourth: European practice addresses misinformation through platform accountability, transparency, media pluralism, fact-checking, media literacy, and independent journalism—not through broad criminal offences.
• Fifth: Removing or substantially redrafting Article 104(B) can preserve the reform without delaying or reopening the entire law.

Press release Link: https://maharatfoundation.org//en/LebanonsDraftMediaLaw-PreservingtheReformWhileAddressingFalseInformation