Regulatory authorities

The provisions within the current media law provide for the establishment of a media council. However, the media council still needs to be formed and formalized. In the state of Puntland, MAP together with the regional government did establish a media council at the beginning of 2018, however the working mechanism for this media council still has to be developed.

The current government started discussions about bringing a legal and regulatory framework for the media. But the reality is that the government has no real capacity to create such regulatory frameworks or to enforce them.

In some ways the country is reminiscent of the historical Wild West when it comes to regulatory authorities. Until the security situation improves and the government can regain full control of the entire territory of Somalia, it seems highly unlikely this situation will change.