{"id":108278,"date":"2025-12-24T05:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108278"},"modified":"2025-12-24T05:19:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:19:00","slug":"no-law-will-silence-journalists-under-my-watch-says-speaker-bagbin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108278","title":{"rendered":"No law will silence journalists under my watch, says Speaker Bagbin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has given a firm assurance that Ghana\u2019s legislature will not pass any law aimed at stifling the work of journalists while he remains at the helm of Parliament.<\/p>\n

The assurance was delivered in a speech read on his behalf by the Member of Parliament for La Dade-Kotopon and Deputy Local Government Minister, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, at the 3rd Annual Dinner Night of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) held in Accra on Monday, December 23.<\/p>\n

Mr Bagbin acknowledged growing concerns within the media space that laws meant to regulate digital and electronic communications are increasingly being weaponised to harass and intimidate journalists, ultimately undermining press freedom. <\/p>\n

He indicated that any existing legislation found to pose a threat to media freedom would be subjected to review.<\/p>\n

His comments come amid mounting anxiety about the application of electronic communications laws to target media practitioners. <\/p>\n

During the event, several journalists shared accounts of arrests, interrogations, and legal actions linked to online publications and social media commentary arising directly from their professional work.<\/p>\n

The Ghana Journalists Association reiterated its long-held position that while ethical and responsible journalism remains non-negotiable, regulatory frameworks must not erode the constitutional guarantees that protect press freedom.<\/p>\n

Mr Bagbin stressed the need to strike a careful balance between safeguarding national security and upholding freedom of expression, emphasising that a free, independent, and fearless media remains a vital pillar of Ghana\u2019s democratic governance.<\/p>\n

The dinner night, which brought together journalists, lawmakers, and key stakeholders, ended with renewed calls for sustained dialogue and collaboration to ensure electronic communications laws are applied in ways that protect journalists and strengthen the country\u2019s democratic culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"NoSpeaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has given a firm assurance that Ghana\u2019s legislature will not pass any law aimed at stifling the work of journalists while he remains at the helm of Parliament.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1883,10,9,8311,10442,1887],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-press-freedom","category-speaker-alban-bagbin","category-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}