Journalists argue Mozambique's new media fee is unconstitutional

Authorities in Mozambique should immediately reverse plans to impose prohibitively high financial charges that unduly target independent media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A July 23, 2018, government decree outlined massive hikes in registration fees to be paid to the government-run Gabinete de Informação, a bureaucratic body that facilitates media registration. [ . . . ] Tomás Vieira Mário, president of Mozambique's press regulator, the Conselho Superior da Comunicação Social, told CPJ that he believes the fees imposed are "illegal" because they violate the right to freedom of expression enshrined in Mozambique's constitution. The government should move to nullify and renegotiate the decree, he said. Mário also said the regulator, which is made of 11 members--six appointed by the presidency and parliament, and five appointed by the journalists' union and media companies--first learned about the decree when it was published as law in the government bulletin, and should have been consulted beforehand.
Read the full article here: Committee to Protect Journalists