Dubai: Bloggers and operators of cyber news sites, facing legal actions in the UAE, will become the first in the world to receive legal support from the Journalists' Association, provided they abide by the ethical and professional rules of the profession.
Mohammad Yousuf, secretary general of the association, told Gulf News the move came as a gesture from the association to improve the quality of blogging in the country and enhance the credibility of internet sites.
He said the association views the growing importance of blogging and cyber space as a "Fifth Estate" in the UAE and would like to ensure clean, credible and transparent environment of blogging activities in the UAE.
As per the rules of the foundation, journalists in the UAE are those who work with licensed media institutions. The association offers legal support to journalists, regardless of their membership with the association.
Yousuf said the association has provided legal support for more than 60 journalists since the establishment of the Defence Council at the Journalists' Association in 2004.
He said blogs and news sites on the web represents great challenge for freedom of expression all over the world and unless special steps are taken to improve the credibility and the contents of reports on the net, human community will soon lose an efficient way of communicating news.
Yousuf said the association has come up with its current proposal to offer legal support following a request by a blogger facing legal actions for publishing what he described as news materials on his blog.
"The association realised that the blogger has never worked as a journalist and never follows news-gathering rules that are implemented by professional journalists. The association has, however, agreed to offer the blogger with suitable help to resolve the case. The incident was an eye-opener for the board of the association and prompted the members to conduct a general revision of blogging and cyber news sites in the UAE," he said.
Yousuf said the board decided to meet major bloggers and cyber site operators to discuss their problems and adopt themselves to the rules and the ethics of the profession. "There was no intention to cover bloggers under the association's umbrella, but to help them whenever they are faced with legal action.
"The new policy helps in improving the quality of blogging in the Emirates and enhances the transparency and the credibility of news reporting on cyber sites. The only condition on the bloggers to avail themselves of the services of the association is to identify themselves clearly and follow 9 ethical rules in reporting or casting their views, including offering a level playing field for different parties related to the issue of reporting.
Bloggers should refrain from using inflammatory language or tarnish the credibility of an establishment or individual without substantial evidences. Those who continue casting their views under vague identities will not be able to seek the association's help.
Yousuf said the UAE has witnessed positive developments in the past 18 months that helped journalists focus more on improving their professional performances.
He said the decision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to abolish jail sentences for journalists, issued on September 25, 1997 - proclaimed as the Day of Press Freedom in the UAE - has resulted in a sharp decline in the number of court cases against journalists and media institutions in the country.
"Court cases against journalists dropped drastically from 60 cases in the past 5 years - at an average of 12 per year - to only one case in the previous year. The previous year witnessed filing of four cases against journalists, with three of these case rejected by the public prosecutor for lack of evidence and the fourth case was referred to the court for judgement," he said.
Yousuf said the decline in the number of court cases against journalists came as a result of the order abolishing prison terms against journalists that came from the helm of the executive authority in the country.
Departments and officials, representing the government, used to form the biggest group of complainants against journalists in the past five years. Since Shaikh Mohammad expressed his support for the freedom of journalists in such a clear and open manner in September 2007, officials who used to be less tolerant in their criticism of the media, have become more liberal towards the press.
Yousuf hopes the positive environment created by the September 2007 announcement, which was considered the only positive development for the media in Arab countries, will be further reinforced by the proposed Media Activities Law, which is currently being processed.
"The association has expressed its reservations about the blueprint of the law and has called on the members of the Federal National Council (FNC) to read it carefully before passing it to the government. We don't want to lose the achievement of the past two years by adopting a law that will set further curbs on the freedom of the press," Yousuf added.
