FIJI Media Association general secretary Stanley Simpson has called for the removal of the country’s media blackout period before elections, describing it as an outdated rule that no longer works in the digital age.
He told the multi-stakeholder dialogue on Electoral Reform in Suva the blackout unfairly restricts traditional media while allowing unregulated digital platforms to dominate.
“Media blackout is an outdated tool in a digital age,” Mr Simpson said.
“While traditional media stay silent, social media platforms Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp continue to be flooded with campaign messaging. Some of it is sponsored and algorithmically boosted.
“What results is a skewed information environment, where the regulated are punished and the unregulated are empowered.
“I don’t think we can control that now.”
Mr Simpson said the outdated legislation only weakened the integrity of elections and the credibility of the law itself.
“Persisting with this outdated legislation will only undermine the credibility, the elections office, and the law itself,” he said.
“It will make everyone laugh at us.
“We try to be relevant, maybe that’s why a lot of young people are thinking ‘what are these people trying to organise here?’
“They don’t know we live in a different world now.”
