A/HRC/22/58 management, and information and public relations. The Chair of the Council is retired Supreme Court Judge Khin Maung Aye and the Deputy Chair is journalist and writer Maung Wuntha. The Special Rapporteur is encouraged to see that membership is largely made up of independent journalists, some of whom he met in Yangon during his latest visit. The Council has been proactive in carrying out its tasks, such as engaging in mediation between the Government and two journals, The Voice and Snapshot Journal, for the withdrawal of Government lawsuits against the publications. 18. The Special Rapporteur commends the Government’s decision to pass the responsibility of drafting a new media law to the Interim Press Council, which will help to ensure meaningful consultation with relevant stakeholders and a law that meets international standards. The law, which he hopes will be passed by the end of the year, will establish a permanent Press Council and new publishing guidelines, and should help to protect the freedom of expression of reporters and editors. However, he is alarmed about a proposed Printing and Publishing Enterprise Law, which came to his attention just prior to the finalization of this report, and calls for its urgent review by the Interim Press Council to help ensure it meets international human rights standards. 19. In conjunction with the passing of a new media law, reforms to existing legislation also need to take place (see Recommendations). 20. During his meeting with journalists in Yangon, concerns were expressed over difficulties in accessing information from local and central Government officials. The Special Rapporteur recommends the passing of a right to information act to address these concerns. 21. He welcomes measures that have been taken to develop media plurality, which will enable people to receive a wide range of information and ideas. Around 350 journals and newspapers now exist in Myanmar, and from April 2013 private newspapers will be able to publish daily editions. He emphasizes that the criteria for granting such licences should be reasonable and objective, clear, transparent and non-discriminatory. 22. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that reform of the broadcast media is lagging, and that the same commendable bottom-up approach that the Government is taking to reform the print media is not being applied to broadcast journalism. For instance, there are currently no measures in place to ensure plurality of broadcast media, such as community radio. Licensing regimes for broadcast media need to provide for an equitable allocation of frequencies between public, commercial and community broadcasters. He therefore recommends the establishment of an independent and public broadcasting licensing authority with the power to examine broadcasting applications and to grant licenses. 23. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that public broadcast news remains heavily censored. He encourages the Government to take steps to ensure that public service broadcasting operates in an independent manner with editorial freedom, including providing funding in a manner that does not undermine its independence. The Government should also prevent undue media dominance by privately-controlled media groups that may be harmful to a diversity of sources and views. 24. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the increased freedom for Internet users, with Internet café owners no longer receiving police visits and no longer required to keep logs of the computers used by customers. However, he is concerned about the decision of Parliament on 17 January to investigate the online activities of a blogger who had criticized MPs’ amendments to the Constitutional Tribunal Law. He highlights that uninhibited expression is particularly important in a democratic society for the purposes of public debate on State institutions and figures in the public and political domain. 6