Journalists in the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf state that wants to be seen as an example for press freedom in the Arab world, slammed a proposed new media law as a "backward step". The government, which hosts hundreds of foreign media including AFP in specially tailored free zones, insists the bill will provide wider freedom for the local press.
However, Mohammed Yousuf, the head of the UAE journalists association, denied that the new regulatory system will be better than the existing arrangements, in force since 1980. "It did not take our demands into consideration. This is a backward step," he told AFP, days after the draft was approved by the UAE's consultative assembly and sent back to the government for finalisation before the president signs it into law. The recently-founded Doha Centre for Media Freedom also slammed the draft law. "Several clauses constitute a flagrant violation of international conventions that guarantee freedom of expression," the watchdog said in a statement.