Lebanese Committee approves law to mandate state media advertising

Lebanon’s Media and Telecommunications Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim al-Mousawi, has approved a draft law that would require state-owned institutions to allocate at least 5% of their advertising budgets to official state media. The measure aims to support public broadcasters currently facing severe financial distress, noting that government entities frequently direct allocated budgets toward private media outlets instead.

During the session, which included Information Minister Paul Morcos, al-Mousawi also addressed the decline in the quality of public media discourse. He criticized the rise of vulgarity and offensive language in the media, stating that such rhetoric negatively impacts Lebanon’s image, culture, and the educational standards of future generations. The committee plans to hold future sessions specifically to discuss public media discourse and issue recommendations to the ministries of information, culture, and education.