التنظيم القانوني لوسائل الإعلام في فترات الانتخابات

Abstract

Freedom of media is one of the pillars of democracy, as it allows the display of different political and intellectual trends and the dissemination of information related to public affairs. The Egyptian constitution issued in 2014, guarantees the freedom of opinion and expression. article 65 of the constitution emphasized the right of expression in various ways, including speech, printing, photography, blogging, and other means of expression. The legislator, in article 72 of the Egyptian constitution, was keen to guarantee the independence of press institutions and media, believing in the importance of the role they play in educating society and in political life. However, if the constitution guarantees freedom of expression, this freedom should not be devoid of controls that take into account the requirements of national security, public order, and freedom of others. Therefore, the constitution restricts this right, like other general rights, by ensuring that its exercise is within the limits of the law. Article 71 stipulates the prohibition of censorship of the Egyptian media except in times of war and general mobilization, to protect the interests of the state. The same article forbids the imposition of custodial penalties for crimes committed by means of publication or publicity, with the exception of incitement to violence, discrimination between citizens, or defemination of individuals, which penalized by the law. On the political level, the traditional and modern media play fundamental role in the electoral campaigns, as they are considered the pillar of achieving democracy and an important mechanism for applying the principle of freedom of expression. But this role can be a double-edged sword. Media can represent a guarantee of freedom of expression, and it can also turn into a mean of misleading of voters to achieve personal goals. Here, the necessity of legal regulation of the media during election periods appears in a way that guarantees the preservation of its objectivity. Recently, it has been proven that in case of political instability, the media can represent a threat to national security. Therefore, institutional reform and legal regulation of this sector has become an urgent necessity in newly democratic countries. In this regard, a balance must be made between the independence and freedom of the media, which is one of the pillars of democratic systems, and the importance of ensuring the impartiality and objectivity of the media. Here, an important problem arises, which is how to achieve a balance between legal control over illegal media practices and ensure media freedom of expression at the same time. In the framework of this research, we will study the legal standards that can achieve the desired role of the media, represented in educating the community about the electoral process and contributing to the achieve democracy, on the one hand, and the frameworks that ensure that these means do not deviate from the desired goal in this regard, on the other hand. This research is divided into two parts; The first chapter explains the role played by the different media in the election period and the extent of its impact on the political awareness of the voters. Then, in the second chapter, we will discuss the extent to which the Egyptian legislative texts are appropriate to regulate the role of the media and the extent of their coverage of the modern forms of media, by being guided by the standards set by international organizations and the approach followed by democratic countries in this regard.