State-Controlled Media: Are We Sleepwalking into Censorship?

Yusef Taylor, GOMA Interim President

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

There have been many diverse opinions on the issue of state-controlled media of late because of the Draft National Accreditation Policy and the Broadcasting and Online Content Regulations 2025.

However, one comes to realise that most commentators have not referenced specific clauses to underline their points, perhaps because they haven’t read both documents.

The first point many need to understand is that the Policy and the Regulations conflict in a number of areas, and a regulation gazetted into law supersedes a policy document.

Where the Policy calls for a committee involving government and the media to accredit journalists and regulate them, the Regulations actually confer the power to manage the entire process on the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), with the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services overseeing PURA.

This law will impact journalists, media houses, monetised accounts, and social media influencers with wide reach who are categorised as SPURs. Artists, comedians, and highly critical commentators with large followings will certainly come under the SPUR criteria.

I’ll be sharing three clauses every few days for better understanding.

Clause 11 gives the Minister the power to license, determine licence conditions, fees, and much more.

Clause 12 gives PURA wide powers to regulate online content, establish a code of conduct, and enforce that code. This will replace the Gambia Press Union’s (GPU) Cherno Jallow Charter of Ethics for Journalists.

Clause 13 provides for the establishment of a Content Complaints Committee, which will usurp the mandate of the MCG and establish state control over all media. Clause 14 highlights its functions, which include presiding over complaints and ensuring enforcement of minimum broadcasting standards.

All this means that the GPU’s Cherno Jallow Charter of Ethics will be replaced by a “Code of Conduct for Broadcasting Services” to be prepared or determined by PURA, which will enforce compliance through the Content Complaints Committee.

This will effectively replace the GPU’s Cherno Jallow Charter and the Media Council of The Gambia.