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156 news websites comply with Press and Publications Law

By Mohammad Ghazal - Apr 07,2014 - Last updated at Apr 07,2014

AMMAN — The Press and Publications Department (PPD) on Monday said 156 news websites have so far rectified their situation and are registered and licensed.

“Although 156 websites corrected their situation in accordance with the Press and Publications Law, several online news outlets still have not registered,” Fayez Shawabkeh, director of the PPD, told The Jordan Times over the phone.

These unregistered and unlicensed websites are currently blocked by the government, Shawabkeh added.

In June 2013, the government started blocking unlicensed news websites after giving them a deadline to register.

“Most of the blocked websites are inactive and not updated by their owners,” Shawabkeh said. He added that the owners of some of the unlicensed websites have resorted to using certain techniques to avoid being blocked, but stressed that the PPD is monitoring the situation and is preventing the blocked sites from avoiding detection.

“Some of the blocked sites try to use other links to direct readers to their pages, but we also block these links,” Shawabkeh said.

Many of the news websites that were supposed to register instead chose to change the theme of their sites, thus, avoiding the need to register.

“Some of the sites stopped publishing news and became specialised in certain issues, such as technology or education. Specialised websites do not need to register as long as they do not publish news,” he added.

Shawabkeh stressed that the authorities will continue to block unlicensed and unregistered news sites, urging owners of such sites to abide by the law, which he said “seeks to protect the interests of individuals and institutions”.

The law requires websites that publish local news to register and obtain licences from the PPD. Registration fees have been lowered from JD10,000 to JD1,000.

The law also stipulates that the chief editor of a news website must be a Jordan Press Association member. Additionally, the law mandates a special court to look into media cases and stipulates a four-month deadline for the tribunal to rule on any case it hears.

Moreover, the legislation holds online media publishers accountable for comments their readers might post and prohibits them from publishing comments not relevant to the article to which they are attached, also requiring that all comments be archived for no less than six months.

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