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Entity Type: Media Regulatory Body

High Authority for Press and Audiovisual

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Mauritania’s High Authority for Press and Audiovisual Material (Haute Autorité de la Presse et de l’Audiovisuel), or HAPA, is a media regulatory body established in October 2006, responsible for licensing media outlets, enforcing press regulations, and nominating heads of public media organizations. The authority’s six-member board includes three members appointed by the republic’s president, two by the National Assembly, and one by the Senate, a structure that leaves board members only partly autonomous from the executive branch. In August 2011, HAPA authorized the country’s first private media outlets, ending the government’s 51-year broadcast monopoly. The authority also defines rules governing the access of political parties to public broadcasting during elections.

Supreme Council for the Regulation of the Media

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Egypt’s Supreme Council for the Regulation of the Media is a government regulatory body established under Law No. 92 of 2016 and first formed in April 2017. Although Egypt’s Constitution describes it as an independent body, the President directly appoints its head and most members. The council licenses all media outlets, newspapers, and websites operating in Egypt; it has the authority to block websites, suspend publications, and prevent content deemed threatening to “national security.” The SCMR has been criticized for creating “a restrictive media regulatory scheme that grants authorities broad discretion to censor or block content,” severely constraining independent journalism in Egypt.