Maputo, Aug. 28, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique's State Information Office (GabInfo) on Friday called on journalists and media organisations to familiarise themselves with the new legislative package for the sector to ensure a smooth transition to the new rules, which come into force in December.
At a press conference in Maputo, which marked the start of the public presentation of the new media laws approved by parliament, GabInfo's Director of Media Registration and Licensing, Elizabete M'chola, emphasised the need to prepare in good time for the implementation of the new legal framework.
«The challenges facing GabInfo and the various stakeholders are to ensure that, by the time the new laws come into force, the necessary measures have been put in place to facilitate their understanding and create the conditions for their effective implementation,» she said.
According to Ms M'chola, the process requires the participation of media organisations, journalists, professional bodies and civil society.
«We need media organisations and journalists to ensure that information about the new laws reaches its primary audiences and the general public. We need professional bodies and civil society to enrich the dialogue and contribute to a proper understanding of the changes introduced,» she added.
The preparation programme, scheduled to run until November, is based on five components. The first involves measures to publicise and raise awareness of the laws, through communication campaigns and the organisation of a national seminar.
The second concerns regulation, including the drafting and harmonisation of the regulatory instruments provided for in the new legislation.
The third component relates to the adaptation and finalisation of institutional frameworks to ensure their compliance with the wider legal framework.
The fourth component provides for technical capacity-building initiatives aimed at key stakeholders in the sector, whilst the fifth will be dedicated to the effective implementation of the new regulations and to addressing any queries or difficulties that may arise during their application.
Among the main changes introduced by the new Media Act, Mozambique aims to strengthen the protection of journalists by enshrining conscientious objection and professional confidentiality, to limit media concentration, and to set the limit on foreign capital in media organisations at 35%.
Law No. 19/2026, which replaces Law No. 18/91, in force since August 1991, seeks to bring the sector into line «with the current legal and constitutional framework and with technological advances».
The legislation expressly extends the concept of a media organisation to include publications of an informative and journalistic nature distributed exclusively via the internet, thereby formally bringing digital media within its scope.
The guarantees of press freedom now also include «the right to inform and be informed without interference or censorship», «the editorial freedom and freedom of news coverage of media organisations» and «the independence of journalists in the exercise of their professional duties, including the right to conscientious objection and professional confidentiality».
The law also stipulates that no public or private entity may prevent or restrict the collection, circulation, transmission or dissemination of journalistic content, except in cases expressly provided for, and strengthens the legal framework for the profession through the Journalists' Statute and the professional licence.
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