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The Political Transition in Tunisia from the Point of View of Regulation of Communication Media

2012; Facultad de Comunicación y Relaciones Internacionales Blanquerna, Universidad Ramon Llull; Volume: 1; Issue: 30 Linguagem: Inglês

2340-5007

Joan Barata i Mir,

Political and Social Issues

The Arab Spring has represented a very complex process of change in different countries, all of them with diverse political cultures and historical backgrounds. Thus, although it has been defined and “labeled” as a regional political movement, each country in the MENA region should basically be analyzed separately. Of course, this does not preclude that many lessons can be learnt from different transition processes (if they actually take place) and therefore some experiences can be useful for others. The case of Tunisia is particularly interesting in this sense. For several reasons (most of which have been pointed out in this text), Tunisia should be considered a leading country in the democratization of North Africa, including in the media sector. While countries like Egypt have also started a process of “liberalization” of the media sector (including the audiovisual sphere), in Tunisia this process has been undertaken by an adequate institutional system that has been able to enact a seminal and systematic legislative regime. The Tunisian case is in many ways unique, as far as it is the result of a political will to establish a pluralistic and proportionate regulatory system. This regime has to be enforced, in the case of the audiovisual sector, by a newly designed independent regulatory authority. Key words: Arab Spring, free speech, regulation, democratic transition. La Primavera Arab esta suposant un proces de canvi molt complex a diversos paisos, tots ells amb cultures politiques i contextos historics diferents. Per aixo, tot i que ha estat definida i etiquetada com un moviment politic regional, cada un dels paisos englobats a la regio MENA ha de ser directament analitzat de manera independent. Evidentment, aixo no descarta aprendre les llicons que se’n deriven dels diferents processos de transicio (si realment segueixen el seu curs), perque determinades experiencies poden resultar profitoses per a d’altres. En aquest sentit, l’exemple de Tunisia es particularment interessant. Per diverses raons (moltes de les quals son destacades en aquest text), Tunisia ha de ser considerat com el pais lider en la democratitzacio del nord d’Africa, incloent-t’hi el sector dels mitjans de comunicacio. Mentre paisos com Egipte han comencat un proces de “liberalitzacio” d’aquest sector (on s’inclou l’ambit audiovisual), a Tunisia el proces ha estat escomes mitjancant un marc institucional pertinent que ha permes posar en practica un regim legislatiu sistematic i vertebrador. D’aquesta manera, el cas tunisia resulta excepcional en molts aspectes, en tant que es el resultat de la voluntat politica d’establir un sistema regulador plural i proporcional. Dins de l’ambit audiovisual, aquest regim ha de ser aplicat a traves d’una nova autoritat reguladora de caire independent. Paraules clau: Primavera Arab, llibertat d’expressio, regulacio, transicio democratica.