Toward  a  Media  Regulatory  Reform  in  Middle  East  and  North  Africa:

According   to   a   General   Comment   issued   in   September   2011   by   the   UN   Human   Rights   Committee,   the   official   body   responsible   for   overseeing   States’   compliance   with  their  ICCPR  obligations:     States   parties   should   consider   the   decriminalization   of   defamation   and,   in   any   case,   the  application  of  the  criminal  law  should  on. [...]   providing   for   damages   for   defamation)   is   effective   in   protecting   the   legitimate   interest   (in   this   case   reputations)   a   criminal   prohibition   cannot   be   justified. [...]   It   is   noteworthy   that   many   democracies   –   including   East   Timor,   Georgia,   Ghana,   Sri   Lanka,   the   United   Kingdom   and   the   United   States   –   have   rescinded   their   criminal   defamation   laws,   while  others  have  done  away  with  the  possibility  of   imprisonment  for  defamation. [...]   For   copyright,   despite   the   growing   clamour   among   content- ‐producers   for   harsh   penalties,   better   practice   suggests   that   criminal   penalties   should   be   reserved   for   only   the   most   serious   offenders,   and   particularly   commercial   offenders. [...]     These   systems   have   advantages   both   for   the   genera   public,   as   self- ‐regulatory   systems   are   far  more   accessible   for   ordinary   citizens   than   the   courts,   and   for   the   media,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  quicker  and  less  onerous  means  of  resolving  breaches  of   professional   standards.