KRG Media & Information Department Operates Under Party Influence

Reports 02:01 PM - 2024-10-27

KRG logo.

The Department of Media and Information of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) operates under the control of a wing of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the same wing within the cabinet. It has ranked and accused ten media channels and pages of spreading misinformation without any established criteria or survey undertaken by an unbiased authority.

A specific party seeks to restrict freedom, levy accusations, and discriminate through governmental institutions. None of the ten channels and pages designated as misleading by the Media and Information Department are based in Erbil, Duhok, or other regions governed by the KDP. Numerous channels and pages in Erbil spread fraudulent and incorrect news daily; nevertheless, none are registered as misleading outlets.

The Department of Media and Information of the KRG's ninth cabinet listed NRT, Wazhu, SNN, Payam, Ali Hama Salih, Speda, KNN, Kobas, Bwar, and Sharpress, all media outlets in Sulaymaniyah, as misleading and accused them of spreading misinformation.

Kobas Editor-in-Chief: The department is not impartial and honest

Rawezh Karmeran, editor-in-chief of Kobas, told PUKMEDIA: "The Media and Information Department, which speaks on behalf of the KRG and is run on government funds, ought to deliver impartial and accurate information; yet, it fails to meet these standards and has been co-opted by a wing of a political party."

He further stated, "We reject the information published by the Media and Information Department, which unjustly implicates the media in Sulaymaniyah province. We believe that the office is being used to serve specific persons and a wing of a particular party, while it operates under public funds."

Sharpress Editor-in-Chief: The department aims to restrict freedom

Kamal Rauf, editor-in-chief of Sharpress, told PUKMEDIA: "The KRG, via the Media and Information Department, implemented measures intended to restrict freedom; however, we thwarted them." 

Moreover, he said: "This approach will definitely be ineffective for them, as well, and we won't allow the execution of a specific party's objective under the guise of information and law. It has been proven in the past that this office, along with the government, cannot operate independently and remains under party influence."

The Department of Media and Information is one of the five official departments of the KRG, responsible for developing media strategy and communication policy for the government. Due to its decisions, it resembles a party centre rather than a governmental institution.



PUKMEDIA