‘Chilling’: Vanuatu libel bill prompts fears for free speech

Bill placing libel under criminal rather than civil law could see journalists jailed for three years for misleading' content

Journalists and social media moderators in Vanuatu could face up to three years in prison under a new bill that broadly criminalises threatening words, gestures and the reckless" sharing of false statements.

Changes to the criminal libel and slander provisions of the South Pacific country's Penal Code Act mean that Ni-Vanuatu could now face imprisonment for any representation that is untrue or misleading" on public platforms including television, radio, internet websites, social networking sites and blog sites".