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The National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) has published a decree establishing the terms and procedures for access to audiovisual media and media coverage of presidential candidates.
The decree concerns “all public and private audiovisual media under Algerian law, having legal authorization, as well as other private audiovisual media, whose programs are legally broadcast in Algeria, including audiovisual activity via the internet.”
The decree also sets out the terms of media coverage of presidential candidates by the written press and electronic press, as well as the announcement of candidacies via social networks. Under this decree, audiovisual media “undertake to ensure equitable access to all presidential candidates”, in particular through “direct and exclusive expression, within the framework of public service missions, via public audiovisual media, in a fair and equal manner with regard to the time slot and time slots, and the order of interventions”, knowing that “the distribution of time slots for direct expression to candidates is ensured by the ANIE, in coordination with the National Independent Audiovisual Regulatory Authority (ANIRA)”.
The audiovisual media shall ensure that candidates or their representatives have fair participation in scheduled broadcasts, and shall be required to ensure fair media coverage during the election campaign. In addition, they shall undertake to cover the campaign of all candidates fairly and objectively and shall guarantee the right of reply within the time limits set in accordance with the provisions of Article 66 of the Law on the Written and Electronic Press, and Article 38 of the Law on Audiovisual Activity.
When covering the activities of candidates during the election campaign, the media are required to respect a series of rules relating to the principles of credibility and impartiality by questioning candidates about their possible contradictions and asking them for details regarding their programs. It is also imperative to verify the veracity of the information relayed, which could influence the choice of voters, in order to avoid the dissemination of fake news, according to the ANIE decree.
It is also appropriate to “prohibit any preferential treatment towards any candidate participating in the election” and to “ensure that journalists and technicians who depend on them, activists of one of the parties participating in the election and those who support a candidate or have a link with any candidate, refrain from covering the campaign electoral”.
The decision also requires “ensuring that the reproduction of extracts from press releases and statements by candidates or their representatives does not distort the general meaning or the initial significance of the document.”
These rules also include – according to the same decree – “respect for the privacy and dignity of individuals, observance of the principle of the presumption of innocence and abstention, during the coverage of the electoral campaign, from transmitting any announcement or statement containing words or images likely to incite hatred, discrimination, violence or to discredit the institutions of the State”. It also concerns the need to “respect the period of electoral silence of 3 days preceding the day of the election.