The Defamation Bill will reduce criticism in Israeli media

According to results of a journalist survey by Keshev

January 2012

A proposed amendment to Israeli Defamation Prohibition law recently caused heated public discussion: will it limit the media's ability to fulfill its role as the watchdog of democracy, or is it a necessary restraint on the media's disproportional power? A survey conducted by Keshev among journalists shows that most of them believe the amendment will increase the number of libel suits against media outlets and reduce the amount of investigative journalism in Israeli media.

On November 22nd, 2011, an amendment to Israeli Defamation Prohibition law passed the first reading out of the three required for its ratification. The amendment allows the increase of damages paid to the plaintiff to NIS 300,000 without any proof of damage. The amendment also stated that every publication would have to include the full response of any of its subjects, should they demand it. Failing to meet this condition will make it possible to file a lawsuit against the newspaper, for example, for a sum of up to NIS 1.5 million.

The bill passing its first hurdle caused heated public discussion, with opponents of the amendment arguing that it will limit the media's ability to fulfill its role as the fourth estate, its supporters claiming that it will serve as a necessary restraint on the media's disproportional power, and others claiming that considering the court's decisions in past libel cases, it will not make any difference in reality.

In light of this heated debate, Keshev researched the anticipated effects of the amendment on the work of journalists, through a survey in which some 50 journalists from leading media outlets took part. Its findings show that 82%-90% of the journalists believe that the amendment will increase the number of libel suits against media outlets, be they from politicians, tycoons or ordinary citizens.

Most journalists believe that the amendment will not affect their own work (57%-68%), yet 80% think that the amendment will negatively affect the work of their peers. In other words, a vast majority of the participants believe that the amendment will reduce the amount of investigative journalism in Israeli media, and consequently the amount of criticism in the media towards the political and economical elite.

In summary, the findings show that regardless of how the amendment will actually influence the day-to-day work of the journalists, from their point of view it posits a clear and imminent threat. Thus, even if objectively the amendment changes nothing, the subjective sense of threat will have a chilling effect on Israeli journalists and will harm the media's ability to play its role as the "watchdog of democracy".

These findings were presented in a special conference held by MK Nachman Shai at the Israeli parliament (press release, PDF, Hebrew)

>> Download the full survey (PDF, Hebrew)
>> Summary of Keshev's activity against the bill