Mounir Kabalan \u2013 Zeinab al-Hajj Hassan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protecting the confidentiality of sources and a journalist’s right of access to information are pillars of media work, above all investigative journalism, which relies on sources and documents that may not be publicly available. In Lebanon, the new media law has reorganized these rights, alongside the 2017 Right of Access to Information Law. The new media law, Law 69, was passed in August 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on September 3 of the same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet between the legal text and its application, questions arise about whether a journalist can actually obtain information and protect their sources, and whether the legal guarantees are sufficient to practice journalism freely and independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between the Right of Access to Information and the Reality of Implementation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Right of Access to Information Law, passed in 2017 and followed by an implementing decree in 2020 and amendments in 2021, grants natural and legal persons the right to access public information and documents, with specific exceptions. It also requires administrations to publish categories of information and to appoint information officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Anti-Corruption Commission receives complaints related to the law’s implementation, including cases of explicit or implicit refusal, and its decisions can be appealed before the Council of State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the Commission’s first annual report, issued in April 2025, showed that only 40% of administrations proactively publish information, while fewer than 50% of national administrations and 25% of local administrations had appointed information officers. The response rate to requests stood at 76% nationally versus 63% locally, amid challenges related to weak institutionalization, legal ambiguity, and technical obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Journalist Adam Shamseddine believes that the new media law, and before it the right-of-access-to-information law, made it easier to obtain information that previously required far more time and effort. But their effectiveness depends on how responsive officials are to implementing them and on whether stalling is avoided, since loopholes that can be exploited to dodge compliance still exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He notes that journalists’ knowledge of the law and their ability to use it are essential to being shielded by its provisions, alongside insisting on publishing the investigation. “In Lebanon, there are many journalists who do not realize there are points of strength they could lean on even before these two laws were issued,” he says, which can leave some feeling unprotected or yielding to threats and inducements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a Legal Right Collides with Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This gap shows in the experience of journalist Aisamare Latif, who produced an investigative report for Raseef22 on dams in Lebanon and the waste, corruption, and causes of failure that marred dam projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the Ministry of Energy and the Water Directorate are the primary source of information, the team tried to obtain the necessary documents, visiting the ministry daily for two months, from morning until the end of the day, without finding staff or receiving a response to their calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Latif says the team faced poor management and organization, obstruction and stonewalling in handing over files that could implicate people within the ministry, in addition to missing files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n She adds that the team submitted an information request in late May 2026, and it began being processed in July, but they faced one pretext after another without ever receiving an answer or a refusal, even though the legal deadline to respond is 15 days, extendable by an additional 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She recounts that the energy minister’s office tried to contact the department about the request, only to be told that doing so would constitute interference in its work. The team was also offered copies of the papers in exchange for payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this context, she notes that when former minister Walid Fayad was summoned for questioning before Judge Randa Nassar and papers concerning the dams, including the Msayleha Dam, were requested from him, he was told there was no printing machine or ink at the ministry, forcing him to pay three thousand dollars out of his own pocket to have the documents copied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Latif believes the journalist is treated as an “enemy” seeking to expose violations, and that those involved preempt this by withholding information. She adds that the threat of going to court did not change their position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The experience illustrates how the inability to obtain official documents pushes journalists to rely on people inside institutions or on private sources \u2014 a reliance that shrinks as access to official documents becomes more effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Law Exists, but Implementation Stumbles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The “Ghurbal” initiative, a civil society organization founded in 2018, tracks public administrations’ compliance with the Right of Access to Information Law by submitting requests and publishing annual reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clara Bou Garios, the initiative’s programs director, says Ghurbal provides a free hotline for citizens and journalists, handles difficult cases by filing requests on their behalf, follows up with administrations and visits them to obtain responses, then publishes the information while protecting the requester’s identity if they wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She adds: “In some cases, the law has become ink on paper, because some employees and municipalities do not know it exists, and information officers are not appointed in administrations required to have them \u2014 not to mention stalling, lack of resources, and problems with the internet and archiving.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bou Garios believes open sources help journalists reduce their reliance on leaks that may be inaccurate, and contribute to the speed and accuracy of their work. But she distinguishes between open sources and official information, stressing her preference for signed and stamped official administrative documents when they are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Bou Garios, Ghurbal has used the law to obtain many documents that were not clearly available to the public, which confirms that it can be a real tool \u2014 provided administrations cooperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Changed with the New Media Law?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The new media law devoted a chapter to protecting journalists and their sources. Article 116 grants media professionals the right to keep their sources confidential and prohibits disclosing their identity or providing information that could lead to identifying them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The protection covers administrative and judicial measures, wiretapping, surveillance, and searches of a journalist’s residence, workplace, devices, files, and work-related correspondence, none of which may be searched or seized for the purpose of uncovering a source except under the legal conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the protection is not absolute: Article 116 restricts the authority to compel those it covers to reveal sources, or to search devices and documents for that purpose, to the court handling the criminal or civil investigation or trial, by a reasoned decision on the record, and in only two cases: if the information is such that its disclosure would definitively prevent a terrorist crime, or avert an imminent danger to people’s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, MP and lawyer Melhem Khalaf believes the text entrenches the confidentiality of sources, and covers participants in the media process and anyone who holds information by virtue of their participation in it, stressing that the exceptions are “two cases, no more.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khalaf considers that the judge decides within the legal framework, and that the exceptions should not be broadened to cover sources, information, or journalistic writing. If implementation goes wrong, he says, parliament should step in, oversee enforcement, and amend the text when loopholes appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khalaf also considers that the judge decides within the legal framework, and that the exceptions should not be broadened to cover sources, information, or journalistic writing. If implementation goes wrong, he says, parliament should step in, oversee enforcement, and amend the text when loopholes appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khalaf rejects any security or judicial pressure outside the law, considering that material or moral pressure on a journalist is unacceptable, even if clarifications can be requested from them within the legal process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between Legal Protection and Illegal Pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Journalist Adam Shamseddine believes source protection does not stop at the written texts, since those harmed by an investigation can resort to illegal means to reach a source, including intimidation and inducement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n “No one is protected, sources or otherwise,” he says, considering the law “a good additional point but not enough,” despite 17 years of waiting for such protection. He notes that some journalists do not appreciate the importance of source confidentiality, stressing that protection requires a professional culture and knowledge of the law’s limits and how to lean on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Right to Publish and the Journalist’s Responsibility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Protecting journalists and their sources does not exempt media work from legal responsibility: Article 109 prohibits publishing or broadcasting anything that violates the laws, while the law permits publishing information related to the public interest, holding accountable those entrusted with public affairs, and exposing corruption and anything that affects rights, freedoms, security, and public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MP Melhem Khalaf affirms that reduced criminalization does not abolish a journalist’s responsibility, especially in cases of fabricating news, misleading the public, or deliberately publishing false information, stressing that media freedom is tied to social responsibility for what is published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source Protection Is a Professional Responsibility <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Investigative journalist Rana Sabagh believes a source may be the only door to understanding what is happening inside an institution, whether by providing information, documents, or interpreting them. She points out that sources vary: those who hold knowledge, those who provide exclusive information, and the whistleblowers, who need greater protection because of the risks they may face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She stresses the need to verify a source’s motives and information: personal motives do not necessarily mean the information is wrong, but they turn it into a thread that needs investigating rather than a ready-made truth for publication. Verification, she explains, requires cross-checking statements against documents and other accounts, and reviewing the timeline, names, dates, and figures. She sums it up: “The source gives us the thread, and the journalist proves the story.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sabagh considers secrecy a professional and ethical responsibility, sometimes tied to a source’s safety and life; one must never speak about the source, not even to friends or colleagues, or reveal work details to those who do not need them. She affirms that the source’s safety comes before getting the story, because the journalist can change their phone or location, while a source may not be able to change their job, their life, or protect their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sabagh sums up her position: “The source is not the journalist’s property, and the story is not more important than the safety of the person who risked everything to uncover it.” She adds that trust is the real capital of investigative journalism, and that its absence deprives journalism of information that cannot be reached by any other means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are the Texts Enough?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lebanon’s legal framework entrenches the right of access to information through the 2017 law, and protects the confidentiality of sources in more detail under the new media law. But journalists’ experiences and Ghurbal’s work reveal that the gap between text and implementation persists, driven by stalling, weak archiving, the absence of information officers, and the difficulty of obtaining documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, the confidential source becomes all the more important when official channels fail, while effective access to information reduces reliance on private sources and allows investigations to be built on verifiable documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, the right of access to information and the protection of sources are two faces of the same journalistic work: the first makes it possible to obtain official documents, and the second protects sources when the information is not publicly available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fundamental test remains whether administrations, institutions, and the judiciary can enforce the legal guarantees \u2014 enabling journalists to access information, protect their sources, and practice their work freely and independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n *This article was produced under a fellowship program jointly run by the Journalists’ Union in Lebanon and the “Qarib” program, which aims to support media law reforms and raise awareness of them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Qarib is a regional program implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI M\u00e9dias), with funding from the French Development Agency (AFD).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mounir Kabalan \u2013 Zeinab al-Hajj Hassan Protecting the confidentiality of sources and a journalist’s right of access to information are pillars of media work, above all investigative journalism, which relies on sources and documents that may not be publicly available. In Lebanon, the new media law has reorganized these rights, alongside the 2017 Right of Access to Information Law. The new media law, Law 69, was passed in August 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on September 3 of the same year. Yet between the legal text and its application, questions arise about whether a journalist can actually obtain information and protect their sources, and whether the legal guarantees are sufficient to practice journalism freely and independently. Between the Right of Access to Information and the Reality of Implementation The Right of Access to Information Law, passed in 2017 and followed by an implementing decree in 2020 and amendments in 2021, grants natural and legal persons the right to access public information and documents, with specific exceptions. It also requires administrations to publish categories of information and to appoint information officers. The National Anti-Corruption Commission receives complaints related to the law’s implementation, including cases of explicit or implicit refusal, and its decisions can be appealed before the Council of State. However, the Commission’s first annual report, issued in April 2025, showed that only 40% of administrations proactively publish information, while fewer than 50% of national administrations and 25% of local administrations had appointed information officers. The response rate to requests stood at 76% nationally versus 63% locally, amid challenges related to weak institutionalization, legal ambiguity, and technical obstacles. Journalist Adam Shamseddine believes that the new media law, and before it the right-of-access-to-information law, made it easier to obtain information that previously required far more time and effort. But their effectiveness depends on how responsive officials are to implementing them and on whether stalling is avoided, since loopholes that can be exploited to dodge compliance still exist. He notes that journalists’ knowledge of the law and their ability to use it are essential to being shielded by its provisions, alongside insisting on publishing the investigation. “In Lebanon, there are many journalists who do not realize there are points of strength they could lean on even before these two laws were issued,” he says, which can leave some feeling unprotected or yielding to threats and inducements. When a Legal Right Collides with Reality This gap shows in the experience of journalist Aisamare Latif, who produced an investigative report for Raseef22 on dams in Lebanon and the waste, corruption, and causes of failure that marred dam projects. Since the Ministry of Energy and the Water Directorate are the primary source of information, the team tried to obtain the necessary documents, visiting the ministry daily for two months, from morning until the end of the day, without finding staff or receiving a response to their calls. Latif says the team faced poor management and organization, obstruction and stonewalling in handing over files that could implicate people within the ministry, in addition to missing files. ” Latif says the journalist is treated as an “enemy” seeking to expose violations, and that those involved preempt this by withholding information ” She adds that the team submitted an information request in late May 2026, and it began being processed in July, but they faced one pretext after another without ever receiving an answer or a refusal, even though the legal deadline to respond is 15 days, extendable by an additional 15. She recounts that the energy minister’s office tried to contact the department about the request, only to be told that doing so would constitute interference in its work. The team was also offered copies of the papers in exchange for payment. In this context, she notes that when former minister Walid Fayad was summoned for questioning before Judge Randa Nassar and papers concerning the dams, including the Msayleha Dam, were requested from him, he was told there was no printing machine or ink at the ministry, forcing him to pay three thousand dollars out of his own pocket to have the documents copied. Latif believes the journalist is treated as an “enemy” seeking to expose violations, and that those involved preempt this by withholding information. She adds that the threat of going to court did not change their position. The experience illustrates how the inability to obtain official documents pushes journalists to rely on people inside institutions or on private sources \u2014 a reliance that shrinks as access to official documents becomes more effective. The Law Exists, but Implementation Stumbles The “Ghurbal” initiative, a civil society organization founded in 2018, tracks public administrations’ compliance with the Right of Access to Information Law by submitting requests and publishing annual reports. Clara Bou Garios, the initiative’s programs director, says Ghurbal provides a free hotline for citizens and journalists, handles difficult cases by filing requests on their behalf, follows up with administrations and visits them to obtain responses, then publishes the information while protecting the requester’s identity if they wish. She adds: “In some cases, the law has become ink on paper, because some employees and municipalities do not know it exists, and information officers are not appointed in administrations required to have them \u2014 not to mention stalling, lack of resources, and problems with the internet and archiving.” Bou Garios believes open sources help journalists reduce their reliance on leaks that may be inaccurate, and contribute to the speed and accuracy of their work. But she distinguishes between open sources and official information, stressing her preference for signed and stamped official administrative documents when they are available. According to Bou Garios, Ghurbal has used the law to obtain many documents that were not clearly available to the public, which confirms that it can be a real tool \u2014 provided administrations cooperate. What Changed with the New Media Law? The new media law devoted a chapter to protecting journalists and their sources. Article 116 grants media professionals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":17399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437,411],"tags":[698,539,422],"class_list":["post-17401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-voice-of-journalism","category-between-law-and-reality","tag-media-law","tag-press_freedom","tag-silat_wassel-en"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5.png",1920,1080,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5.png",1920,1080,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5.png",1920,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5-300x169.png",300,169,true],"large":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5-1024x576.png",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5-1536x864.png",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Website-5.png",1920,1080,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"\u0635\u0650\u0644\u0629 \u0648\u064e\u0635\u0644","author_link":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/author\/silat-wassel\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"The Voice of Journalism<\/a> Between Law and Reality<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Mounir Kabalan \u2013 Zeinab al-Hajj Hassan Protecting the confidentiality of sources and a journalist’s right of access to information are pillars of media work, above all investigative journalism, which relies on sources and documents that may not be publicly available. In Lebanon, the new media law has reorganized these rights, alongside the 2017 Right of…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\" Latif says the journalist is treated as an \"enemy\" seeking to expose violations, and that those involved preempt this by withholding information \"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\" No one is protected \u2014 neither sources nor anyone else \"
<\/pre>\n\n\n\n \" The source is not the journalist's property, and the story is not more important than the safety of the person who risked everything to uncover it \"
<\/pre>\n\n\n\n