Kataeb Party media department welcomed Parliament’s approval of a new media law, describing it as a long-awaited step toward modernizing the legislation governing the sector and bringing it into line with major changes in the media landscape, particularly the rise of digital media.

However, the party said the law remained incomplete and called for amendments to two provisions that allow journalists to be imprisoned.

The law, approved by Parliament on Tuesday, has been broadly welcomed as an effort to replace an outdated legal framework and modernize regulation of Lebanon’s media sector. But concerns remain over provisions that could expose journalists to prison sentences.

The Kataeb media department said the legislation represented an important achievement but had fallen short because lawmakers failed to adopt several amendments that would have strengthened the rights of journalists and other media workers, reinforced safeguards for freedom of the press and addressed legal loopholes.

Those changes, it said, would also have helped prevent disorder and abuses while establishing clearer rules for the profession.

The party stressed that any reform of media legislation must strike a balance between protecting press freedom and regulating the sector. Such a framework, it said, should safeguard journalists’ right to practice their profession independently and responsibly while establishing clear rules to prevent abuses and disorder.

The Kataeb media department called on the Cabinet to prepare an amending bill and refer it swiftly to Parliament to close the gaps in the newly approved law and introduce the changes needed to protect journalists, strengthen media freedom and regulate the sector in line with the requirements of a modern state.

The party stressed that its objective was not to obstruct the new legislation but to complete it and correct its shortcomings.

The resulting law, it said, should be modern legislation that protects fundamental freedoms, regulates the media profession and strengthens the role of the press in Lebanon’s democratic life.

The media department said Lebanon could not advance its standing on human rights in one area while adopting measures that risked weakening its record on media freedom.

“Lebanon, which took a firm step that reinforced its standing among countries defending human rights by abolishing the death penalty, cannot take steps that would cause it to lose ground in the field of human rights and media freedoms,” the party said.

For that reason, it said, the amendments were necessary and should be adopted without delay.