Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation No ...

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Article, have the power to veto the publication of any material.
7. Mass Media Ownership
1)

Any person who exercises direct or indirect effective control over a company possessing a nation- wide

broadcasting license or a broadcasting license for an area with a recorded population of more than 100,000 inhabitants,
may not exercise direct or indirect effective control over another company holding such a license and servicing the same
or an overlapping market.
2)

Any person who exercises direct or indirect effective control over a company holding a nation- wide license or a

license for an area with a recorded population of more than 100,000 inhabitants may not exercise direct or indirect
effective control over a company operating a periodical servicing the same or an overlapping market
3)

Without prejudice to sub article (1) and (2) at this Article any person who exercises effective direct or indirect

control over a company operating a periodical may not exercise effective direct or indirect control over another company
running a periodical published in the same language and servicing the same or an overlapping market
4)
Untill the procedure for determining and assessing effective control referred to in sub articles (1) to (3) of this
Article shall be laid down by specific law, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, a person shall be regarded as
exercising such control if he either directly or indirectly holds fifteen percent or more of the shares or capital of the entity.
5)
For the purpose of Article 5(1) of this Proclamation, a company is of an Ethiopian nationality if its total capital
originates from a local source or persons holding its capital or voting rights are Ethiopian nationals and it does not include
a company whose capital or voting rights are helld by a locally registered business organization in which foreign nationals
acquired voting rights. Similarly an association is considered as local if it is registered as local association in accordance
with the charities and associations law.
6)

Any person who is not a juridical person may not own a broadcasting service, news agency service or periodicals.

7)
The provisions of this Article shall also apply to a mass media from abroad which facus primarily on domestic
issues and which have been produced primarily for local audiences.
8. Distributors
Entities which offer distribution services to periodicals shall not discriminate in either the provision of those services or
the fees charged for them on the basis of the content of a periodical.
9. Certificate of Registration
1)
Anyone who desires to publish a periodical shall register such periodical by providing the information referred to in
sub article (3), with the Ministry of Information where the proposed distribution goes beyond one regional state, or with
the Information Bureau of the Region where the proposed distribution is restricted to one regional state.
2)

Where the activity given by law to or the purpose of any entity or public body or organization requires publishing a

periodical, such organization or public body shall be deemed registered in accordance with sub article (1) of this Article.
3)

The application for registration shall include the following particulars:

a)

the name and address of the publisher or the news `agency organization as well as of any branch offices if any;

b)

the name of the periodical or the news service agency; and

c)

the names and address of the person holding more than 2% of the shares of the publishing company or the news

agency and the amount of their share
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