South Sudan media regulator warns editors against misinformation, disinformation

JUBA – The Managing Director of Media Authority, Elijah Alier Kuai has urged media houses to refrain from broadcasting or publishing misinformation and disinformation from unreliable sources.

Alier made this call during the belated occasion to mark the World Press Freedom Day in Juba on Thursday.

“Media houses to refrain from broadcasting misinformation and disinformation from unreliable sources can be substantiated,” Alier said.

The MD of the media authority warned the public officials and donors against interfering with the independent editorial policies of media houses.

“The media authority urges the public officials and donors to desist from interfering with the independent editorial policies of independent media while Editors-in-Chief and State Managers should take full responsibly for editorials,” he said.

“We have to change the narrative of the past reporting associated with misconceptions full of misleading and negative reporting based on the confrontation between the government and media.”

He stressed the need to embrace the culture of peace and tolerance with a sense of humanity in all media reporting on public interest in the country.

“The media’s long-term relationship with the government needs a transparent and accountable system to support the sustainability of independent media,” he said.

Since the establishment of a Media Authority in 2014, independent media in South Sudan still grapple with a slew of serious problems.

Some journalists are forced to flee the country.

Those who do not abandon the profession resort to censoring themselves.

South Sudan ranked 128th out of 180 countries worldwide, according to the latest index from Reporters Without Borders.

Government security personnel continue to remove dozens of articles from the press media houses in Juba.

Journalists and rights activists admit that there has been a reduction in arrests, but feel this is only a small improvement.