Male [Maldives], September 18: A bill that critics say could muzzle the media has sparked an outcry in the Maldives after the government of President Mohamed Muizzu pushed it through parliament, where it enjoys a supermajority.
A prominent union of journalists pledged on Wednesday to defy the bill, while the main opposition party called for protests and a global press freedom group urged Muizzu to veto the legislation. "The Maldivian parliament has passed a draconian bill that seeks to muzzle dissent online and offline, both on traditional media and social media," said Ahmed Naaif, the secretary general of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), the country's biggest union of media workers.
"We journalists will stand together in defiance against this takeover of the media by the executive branch," he told Al Jazeera.
Source: Qatar Tribune
