Journalists are staging a protest outside the Parliament building after the Parliamentary Committee on Independent Entities held a meeting about the media bill behind closed doors.
The Committee said that the meeting was held behind closed doors to protect the private information of the people giving testimonies at the meeting.
The journalists covering the meeting were then escorted outside, prompting reporters to stage a protest outside the Parliament building.
Reporters are demanding that Committee meetings on the bill must be held transparently and further demand that the bill should be entirely thrown out of the parliament floor.
Media outlets and the opposition are accusing the ruling government, which holds a majority in the parliament, of trying to fast-track the media bill to exert control over the media.
The media bill looks to combine the Maldives Media Council and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission to form a new entity that would regulate the media by imposing fines and other punishments on media outlets and journalists.
