RSF commends Mongolian President's veto of dangerous social media bill

• Published date: 06 February 2023
• Publication title: Central Asian News Services

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) commends the Mongolian President's veto of a social media bill that poses a potential threat to journalism and the public's right to information, and urges the Parliament not to override this veto.

"We commend the Mongolian President's decision to veto a social media bill that would allow the government to arbitrarily have social media contents removed, including factual information posted by reporters, under the vague pretexts of protecting "national unity" and "state secrets". The legislators should refrain from overriding the veto, but instead take the time to rewrite the bill so that it better respects journalism and the public's right to information," RSF East Asia bureau head Cédric Alviani said.

Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa on January 27 vetoed a social media bill that legislators adopted earlier in the month, only 48 hours after it was disclosed to the public, which made it the fastest decision ever taken by Mongolia's parliament and did not allow any public debate on the matter. The Parliament can still override the veto providing it collects the two-thirds of the votes in a coming extraordinary session planned for this month.

The social media bill, that notably includes dispositions against hate speech, children abuse, drug trafficking and online fraud, also allows the government to request Internet Service Providers to "suspend or...