Shboul meets with Arab League deputy secretary general

AMMAN — Minister of Government Communications Faisal Shboul on Saturday met Arab League Deputy Secretary General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector Ahmed Rachid Khattabi.

During a meeting on the sidelines of the Amman-held Arab Media Forum, organised by the Arab League in partnership with the Jordanian Ministry of Government Communication and the Arab Organisation for Satellite Broadcasting, Shboul, the government’s spokesperson, emphasised the importance of maintaining cooperation and coordination between the ministry and Arab League over issues related to developing the joint Arab media system.

Talks also went over a draft law that was submitted by Jordan to the Arab League to regulate dealing with major international media companies, with the aim of  setting controls for Arabic content on social media platforms, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause, and to addressing the negative impact of social media outlets that face Arab societies, especially false news, hate speech and violation of privacy, in addition to compensating media outlets losses that were sustained due to the advertising industry. 

The draft law aims to protect Arab societies, especially children and young people, from the dangers of social media, including invasion of privacy, blackmail, hate speech and extremism, Shboul noted.

Khattabi commended Jordan’s role in hosting multiple Arab media-related events in cooperation with the Arab League and the Council of Arab Ministers of Information to serve and improve the Arab media system.

He also emphasised the importance of the draft law submitted by Jordan to handle with social media platforms and control content to be in line with Arab values, as well as lauded the initiatives and proposals launched by Jordan’s Ministry of Government Communication, which would help Arab media cooperation.