TAKING US ALONG THE ROAD TO RWANDA

Local radio stations that “spew hatred” and “encourage  violence” will take us along the bloody road of Burundi and Rwanda and they are being warned to either clean up their act, or face closure. “We see what is happening and we are sure in what we hear that some of those stations are going to take us along the route of Rwanda and Burundi,” chairman of the Telecom Authority Dr Ralph Henry told reporters yesterday at a press conference at the Telecom Authority’s headquarters on Boundary Road, San Juan. “If they feel they can preach those words and get away with it, we’ve decided to put a halt to that,” he said. As a result Henry said, “It was very possible that their licences will not be renewed and we are prepared to go there.” 

He said over the past nine months, the authority  met five radio stations  and discussed with them their broadcast format but it did not have the desired impact. “Things are said that are not palatable,” said John Prince, the authority’s executive director, noting that while the authority respected freedom of speech, there are certain limitations attached to it. He then pointed to a forum held by Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (Gopio), where  one speaker suggested that one ethnic group was being urged to kidnap another ethnic group. He described this as the type of hatred and violence that was being spewed by the stations.

Radio and televison licences are up for renewal on June 30, Henry said, noting that the authority was pulling out all the stops for an orderly review “and where broadcasters are compliant, the quick renewal of licences.” “If there are legal challenges to the actions that we intend to take, our courts will have to decide whether, in the interest of free speech, anyone could spew venom and hate through our broadcast media and put on our airwaves what is not allowed in print. We will cross that bridge when we get there,” said Henry. He said the telecom authority could no longer allow the lowest common denominator to determine competition and pointed to “the hate and violence” being broadcast. He charged that radio stations could not continue to use the spectrum “to create social havoc.”       

Henry said the regulatory body was prepared to go to court to defend its position. “If they want to take us there, we are prepared to go to court,” Henry said, in direct reference to broadcast stations that continue to break the rules. He said the Draft Broadcast Code would be out for public comment on April 18. Asked if it were now performing a watchdog role, Henry said, “If that’s our role and it’s there in the Act, we are not going to take off that hat.” Saying that the telecom authority was deeply concerned with what transpires in some parts of the broadcast media, Henry said there was also a question mark over the type of licences that issued to the radio stations. “Let the courts tell us whether we must allow people to spew hatred and encourage violence” he  said.