By George Isaia*
A race for clicks at the expense of human dignity
The commercialisation of human grief by sections of the media has reached an unacceptable point. Increasingly, news websites compete to be the first to publish reports of a person’s death, with competing outlets rapidly reproducing the same story in pursuit of clicks, page views and advertising revenue.
This is particularly disturbing when the victims are children. In such moments, there is rarely any genuine public interest that justifies the immediate publication and endless republication of these stories. Instead, the motivation is often painfully obvious: more clicks, more page views, more advertising revenue.
A person’s death should never become a commercial product.
Freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of every democratic society. Journalists play an essential role in informing the public and holding power to account. But freedom of the press was never intended to protect the monetisation of private grief. Turning human tragedy into digital traffic is not an exercise of press freedom; it is an abuse of it.
A legislative response
To address this growing problem, two legislative proposals have been prepared.
The first amends the Press Law, introducing restrictions on the publication and republication of news reporting the death of a natural person by newspapers, magazines and electronic news publishers.
The second amends the Radio and Television Organisations Law, introducing equivalent safeguards for television and radio broadcasters.
Together, the two proposals establish a single principle across all traditional and digital news media.
They provide that media organisations may not publish, broadcast or republish content announcing the death of a person during the first thirty days following the death unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies. These exceptions include official announcements issued by the Cyprus Police or another competent public authority for reasons of public safety or criminal investigations, publication with the consent of a relative of the deceased, or official announcements issued by public or private organisations solely to announce the death of a person associated with them.
The objective is not to prevent journalism. It is to ensure that journalism is exercised with humanity.
Protecting rights without silencing the press
Some will argue that any legal restriction on publication interferes with freedom of expression. That concern deserves serious consideration.
However, democratic societies have long recognised that freedom of expression is not absolute. It is balanced against other fundamental rights, including privacy, family life and human dignity. Courts across Europe have repeatedly accepted that restrictions may be justified where they are lawful, pursue a legitimate aim and are proportionate.
The proposals therefore do not impose a blanket prohibition. They preserve reporting where there is a legitimate public interest or where competent public authorities determine that publication is necessary. What they seek to prevent is something very different: the immediate commercial exploitation of death where no legitimate public purpose exists.
Restoring decency
The debate ultimately extends beyond media regulation. It is about the kind of society we want to build.
Do we accept a culture in which every fatal accident becomes a race to publish first? Do we accept that families should discover the death of a loved one through social media notifications or sensational headlines? Or do we recognise that there should be minimum standards of decency that place human dignity above advertising revenue?
Reasonable people may disagree on the precise legislative mechanism. Parliament may ultimately decide that the proposed thirty-day period should be shorter, or that additional safeguards are necessary. That is precisely what the legislative process is designed to examine.
What should not be controversial is the principle itself: the commercial exploitation of human suffering deserves limits.
An invitation to Parliament
The two legislative proposals are now complete and available for public discussion.
Press Law (Amendment) Bill: https://12cd76c2-d884-4da4-b519-547222435157.usrfiles.com/ugd/12cd76_02b7be8487e248ad95d30ae1e8ec4fc1.pdf
Radio and Television Organisations (Amendment) Bill: https://12cd76c2-d884-4da4-b519-547222435157.usrfiles.com/ugd/12cd76_a8d9a5968b8242de8e321dd16680a05a.pdf
I invite any Member of Parliament or parliamentary group that believes human dignity deserves greater protection to adopt these proposals and table them before the House of Representatives.
A free press is indispensable to democracy. The commercial exploitation of human grief is not. It is time for the law to recognise that distinction.
*George Isaia is Founder & Policy Advisor at PolicyLab.
