Statement by Parliament's Culture Committee on media coverage of young man's self-immolation

The irresponsible and unethical way that the media covered a young man setting himself on fire in front of the UN headquarters in Erbil has led to condemnation of the media and calls for changes to media regulation in Kurdistan.

We call on journalists and media outlets to abide by journalism's ethics and principles, and not to stand by and watch or encourage violence only to increase their viewers, followers, likes and social media comments.

We have been frank in our views about the state of journalism and the media in terms of the legislative and legal gaps, but under various pretexts, harsh and misleading campaigns have been launched against our efforts, and excuses have found to disrupt them.

Once again we ask the media, media experts and organisations to help us all solve this great problem, whose very negative impact on society will only be worse if it continues.

We stress again that the media in Kurdistan needs reorganization, and that freedom of expression and media freedom must be used with social responsibility.

Committee on Culture, Civil Society, Sports, and Youth

Kurdistan Parliament

19 May 2021