NMC condemns inflammatory language, hate speech

The National Media Commission (NMC) on Tuesday condemned “without reservation” all inflammatory language, especially hate speech and language which incites the public to violence.

In statement issued in Accra, the Commission said it had been following closely media reports and public reactions to inflammatory statements on the airwaves that had potential to threaten the peace and stability of the country.

The NMC's statement signed by Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary, stressed the need for “greater circumspection and professional judgement guided by the Code of Ethics of Journalism”.

The Commission said it expected all editors, presenters and talk-show hosts as well as commentators on radio programmes to restrain from using language that promoted ethnicity and divisions.

Where in doubt, it advised, media gatekeepers should consult the Commission's content guidelines.

The following is the full text of the statement:

“The NMC has been following closely media reports and public reactions to inflammatory statements on the airwaves that have potential to threaten the peace and stability of the country.

“The NMC's own monitoring and evaluation of some of these statements have led it to conclude that the peace, stability and unity of Ghana is indeed threatened by some of these pronouncements on air. The NMC condemns without reservation all such inflammatory language, especially hate speech and language which incites the public to violence.

“The NMC wishes to stress the need for greater circumspection and professional judgement guided by the Code of Ethics of Journalism. The Commission expects all editors, presenters and talk-show hosts as well as commentators on radio programmes to refrain from using language that promotes ethnicity and divisions.

Where in doubt, media gate-keepers would be well advised to consult the Commission's content guidelines, especially the Guidelines for Local Language broadcasting which provides in section 1.7 that broadcasters “MUST NOT, under any circumstance, carry content that can incite people.

Content which can incite people may include the following:

Words that have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the group to whom the comments concern.

Words that can result in a breach of the peace, a fight or a riot.

Threatening, demeaning, or dehumanizing expressions against groups or individuals.

Words that are likely to stir hatred against a group or individual•

Invectives attacking individuals or groups because of their race, ethnic background, religion, gender, or political affiliation.

“As a lasting solution to the promotion and maintenance of responsible journalism on the airwaves, the NMC is of the view that the Revised Broadcasting Bill submitted to the Government which recognises the challenges of an expanded media landscape and therefore proposes a series of measures to meet the challenges must be passed with all the urgency it deserves.

“As an immediate step the NMC is collaborating with the National Communication Authority to undertake the requisite interventions, including legislative measures, to address concerns of inflammatory language, hate speech and obscene content in the media, especially broadcasting.

“In the meantime the NMC is carefully evaluating all media content thought to contain questionable language and as mandated to do, under Article 167(B), will work with other institutions, including the media, 'to take all appropriate measures to ensure the establishment and maintenance of the highest journalistic standards in the mass media'”.