Over six thousand Mongolians petition for veto on new social media law
Mongolia's lawmakers passed a law last Friday that would limit freedom of expression
A coalition of local NGOs started a petition on change.org to call for the President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh to veto the recently passed “Law to protect human rights on social media”.
Within three days after the petition was released, more than six thousand signatures were collected. An official letter from the coalition of NGOs was sent to the President’s office Thursday.
Photo: Coalition of Mongolian NGOs petition for veto
Starting from Thursday, the President has five days to decide on whether to veto the law.
Meanwhile, the Nest Center for Journalism Innovation and Development NGO and Mongolian Fact-checking Center continue to advocate against the “Law to Protect Human Rights on Social Networks”. We have released an official statement condemning the passage of the law and urging for it to be vetoed.
Since the law was passed, we have been approached by both the Communications Regulatory Committee and the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications unofficially, inviting our organization to participate in the implementation of this law as a member of the unit that would monitor social networks. We have objected to both requests, as we will not take part in implementing an illegally approved law. We do not believe the faults within the law can be corrected by a regulation. And we would like to emphasize once again that the process and the regulation put forward by this new law both contradict strongly with the center’s underlying value to ensure access to high quality information while promoting freedom of expression. More can be accessed here in our official statement.
US Ambassador to Mongolia addresses the Law Protecting Human Rights on Social Networks
Earlier this week, the US Ambassador to Mongolia Richard L.Buangan addressed the American business community in Ulaanbaatar, where he also mentioned that the latest action by Mongolia’s lawmakers is an example where “opportunities to debate their (legal regulations) contents may well be limited”.
He said, “An example of this was last week’s passage of the Law Protecting Human Rights on Social Networks. I won’t go into the detailed concerns we have with the potential problems this law makes for the conduct of speech in Mongolia, but I find aspects of this law deeply troubling, particularly those sections that could roll back fundamental freedoms which Mongolians have enjoyed for decades. I will raise these issues directly with members of the government and parliament in the next few weeks, as well as consult with our diplomatic partners to determine coordinated efforts to raise our concerns collectively for the sake of all of us who have been advocating for transparency and openness in Mongolia over the last few years.”
Some useful resources:
Thank you to Rappler and SPJ for taking this issue into your attention and sharing our concerns with your community.
Here's a newsletter by the Society of Professional Journalists in the US
If you are wondering what law I am talking about, here’s the First issue of this newsletter, where you can get an overview.
We have finally gotten hold of the official final version of the law. And here’s the official translation.
With help from lawyers, we are building a position paper, and a tentative translation of the position paper can be accessed here.