Social media law of Mongolia annulled in defense of free speech
Mongolia's Parliament votes to annul the "Law on protecting human rights on social media", after the President vetoed it.
The controversial social media law was discussed once again by the Parliament of Mongolia after facing strong opposition from domestic and international communities. The law was discussed more than a month after being vetoed by the President as it coincided with the Parliament’s spring break.
Photo: Mongolia’s Parliament discusses the social media law on Friday, March 17th
The Parliament adopted to discuss this law as one of the first agenda items, and with 89.1 percent of members voting in favor of the veto, the law was annulled. This marks a victory for local human rights activists, but important to note is that there have been no mention of how the initially submitted and approved law focuses on heavily monitoring the social media and content moderation.
The Parliament ordered the Government and National Human Rights Committee to work on the proposed regulation again by following the due process and to submit a law that aims to “actually” protect human rights on social media.
Here are some additional documents for those of you interested in following the event:
Mongolia’s Parliament speaker urges lawmakers to follow the rule of law
Mongolia: RSF urges legislators not to override presidential veto of dangerous social media bill
Poynter: Mongolia moves to seize power to shut down internet, control social media
AIC Media Statement on the vetoing of Mongolia’s “Law on Protecting Human Rights on Social Networks”
Rappler: Mongolian president vetoes controversial social media law
Thank you to all our friends and partners around the world for spreading the word and being with us throughout this battle.
Mongolia Media Watch will return to you on April 6th, in its originally intended format, where we will feature an amazing media entrepreneur from Mongolia.