MCM HAS SUBMITTED RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING AMENDMENT TO THE ARTICLE 13.14 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE ABOUT THE DISSEMINATION OF FALSE INFORMATION

On September 2, 2020, Mongolian Parliament Members Mr.Enkhbayar B, Ms. Oyunchimeg M, and Ms. Jargalmaa B sent an official letter to MCM asking to propose recommendations on the amendments to Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code.

MCM delivered our recommendations with comments after the MCM Board and management team carefully reviewed the practical implications of Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code since it’s in force and the concept and presentation of amendments drafted by MPs. In the recommendations, we stated that some terms need to be revised in line with international standards, some terms such as “obviously false information” and “false information” need legal definitions, and the entire article should be amended based on the following concepts and principles: It’s important to confirm and strengthen possibilities within the concepts - Damages and defamation due to intentionally disseminated obvious false information shall be resolved by the Criminal Code, and unintentional errors related with journalism quality shall be resolved by media self-regulation within the framework of the article 3.1of the Media Freedom Law of Mongolia.

MCM argues that considering "dissemination of false information" as a criminal act by the law does not clearly distinguish between intentional and unintentional actions. It creates an opportunity to misuse the law and adversely affect media freedom.

The official letter can be found here.