Dili, February 11, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The Timor-Leste Press Council held a signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Business Registration and Verification Service Agency, Public Institution (SERVE.IP) to strengthen press freedom and press expression in Timor-Leste. The event was held at the Press Council Office on Monday.
So far, SERVE.IP and the Press Council have carried out a lot of cooperation related to matters of registration of media companies that are currently actively carrying out their activities as organizations and media registered with the Press Council, because the Press Council and SERVE.IP need to collaborate to realize the harmony of this cooperation.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of SERVE.IP, Fausto Soares Dias, said that currently a memorandum of understanding is being signed with the Timor-Leste Press Council, which is part of the hard work of the two institutions to establish good cooperation.
“Two institutions from the Press Council and SERVE.IP, the technical part worked hard almost in six months, starting from the beginning of the mandate as Executive Director less than a month and a half. I myself received a delegation from the Executive Director of the Press Council with the team to attend the Executive Director of SERVE.IP to talk about today we are stepping in signing this Memorandum of Understanding.” Said the Executive Director of SERVE.IP
He believes that these two institutions, both technically and legally, have provided good benefits for SERVE.IP and the Timor Leste Press Council.
Based on Law Number 83/2022, it is stated that SERVE.IP is only a registration that provides reasons as a sector that wants to invest in the media, must first request permission from the Timor-Leste Press Council.
“All Timorese citizens who want to invest in the future if they want to create jobs, whether they want to or not, must first come to the Press Council to see if they meet the criteria or not, then go to SERVE.IP to register there,” he said.
As President of the Timor-Leste Press Council, Otélio Ote said that since the beginning of the mandate, it has been discussed how to strengthen partnerships with related institutions, so that at this moment SERVE.IP is the target to assist in the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding.
“Because the Press Council registers media organizations and media to get recognition from the state, through the Press Council with the format of submitting a certificate of recognition to the media in this country, therefore we really need a technical agreement like this so that future coordination can be strengthened, there can be legal verification based on the requirements of the Press Council, and also based on the requirements of SERVE.IP.” He continued.
He said that it is important for the media to feel strong, so that the Press Council can also feel its existence which has been running for a long time without disrupting daily activities, therefore it is very important for the media to care about this issue.
On that occasion, the Chairman of the Press Council also said that there were several media that did not report in accordance with the platforms registered with the Press Council, so they were considered less than good.
“This is not good for the media, because the Press Council must supervise these media, especially journalists with their journalistic products, so when we face problems like this, verification is needed because whether this is a consequence of the journalistic product and in the end it could end up in court,” he said.
He emphasized that so far the Press Council has given sanctions to media that violate the rules and do not comply with existing platforms, so the Press Council has given warnings to media institutions to return to using their platforms.
“Give them a warning to return to their original platform, but in the future do not publish news that is not productive with its existence as a media, we coordinate with SERVE.IP to hold companies or media that are registered but do not carry out their duties as media accountable.” He added.
In addition, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Chairman of the Press Council and the Executive Director of SERVE.IP which was held in the Press Council Meeting Room, Quintal-Bo’ot, Dili.
Reported by : Estefania
Picture by : Estefania