Public Service Media (PSM)

Public Service Media (PSM) is the state broadcaster of the Maldives. It was established under the Public Service Media Act (9/2015) in April 2015, replacing the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation, which had held public broadcasting responsibilities from February 2012, and before that the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation. Until 2008, state radio and television operated as separate institutions. The Act obliges PSM to provide television, radio and online services and to train media personnel, and permits it to operate commercially alongside its public service functions.

Media assets

Television: TVM, PSM News, Munnaaru TV, Yes TV, Maldives TV, TVM Qur’an

Radio: Dhivehiraajjeyge Adu, Dhivehi FM, Dheenuge Adu

Publishing: Maldeeb

Ownership and governance

PSM is wholly government-owned. It is governed by a board appointed through the state’s Privatisation and Corporatisation Board (PCB), a body under the Ministry of Finance, with members nominated through the executive branch. A 2018 amendment to the governing regulations moved selection of the managing director and deputy managing director from a vote of the directors to appointment by the PCB, extended board terms, and confirmed that parliamentary approval is not required for board appointments. There is no arm’s-length nominations commission, no parliamentary confirmation and no civil-society appointment power. The board has at times sat partially vacant because of delays in PCB confirmation.

Aminath Namza was publicly identified as Chairperson in December 2025. Ahmed Shakeeb has served as Managing Director since 10 December 2025, when the PCB appointed him following Ibrahim Nasreen’s resignation. Shakeeb previously worked in education administration and has a long association with state broadcasting, including as a television presenter. No protected appointment procedure, fixed statutory tenure or independent nominating mechanism insulates the position from the executive.

The creation of PSM in 2015 was itself criticised by domestic and international press freedom organisations, which argued that the new statutory framework placed public broadcasting under closer government control than the arrangement it replaced.

Source of funding and budget

PSM depends principally on public funding, supplemented by commercial income from advertising and production services. Transparency Maldives recorded that the broadcaster received MVR 475 million from the government between 2015 and 2021, comprising capital injections, operational subsidies and grants.

The 2026 national budget allocates MVR 136 million to broadcasting and publishing services; that figure is a functional budget category covering the sector rather than PSM’s own appropriation, and no separate audited breakdown of PSM’s revenue and subsidy for 2024, 2025 or 2026 was identified. The available historical evidence establishes substantial dependence on state support, but the precise state share of PSM’s current total revenue could not be verified.

Editorial independence

The Public Service Media Act gives PSM a public service mandate, and the corporation states that its services are intended to sustain a spirit of nationality, peace and harmony in society. In practice its editorial autonomy is constrained. A Media and Journalism Research Center governance and content assessment conducted in 2024 found PSM’s news agenda dominated by official events and government achievements, with little scrutiny or inclusion of opposing viewpoints, and journalists and analysts interviewed for the same study reported that criticism of the government is not carried on PSM’s platforms. No legal or institutional mechanism exists to guarantee or audit PSM’s editorial independence, and no protected tenure shields its editorial leadership.

The external regulatory framework was replaced during the review period. On 18 September 2025 President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Act (16/2025), which dissolved both the Maldives Media Council and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission and created a single Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission. The Act provides for fines of up to about US$1,620 against individual journalists and US$6,485 against media companies, suspension of licences pending investigation, litigation seeking cancellation of licences, and police powers to halt broadcasts. An earlier version had been withdrawn at the end of 2024 after public pressure. Its passage was opposed by the Maldives Journalists Association, which described it as a draconian media control law, and by a joint letter from 21 organisations including CPJ, Human Rights Watch, the IFJ, Transparency Maldives and the Centre for Law and Democracy; the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for the law to be withdrawn or repealed. In May 2026 the MJA supported an electronic petition calling for the Act to be repealed and replaced with legislation developed through consultation with media and civil-society organisations. The former regulatory bodies were dissolved and replaced by a single commission whose institutional independence has been challenged by journalists’ organisations and international press-freedom groups. In January 2026 the new commission issued its first known takedown order under the Act, requiring the online outlet Adhadhu to remove a political cartoon satirising the President.

AI and digital policy

PSM distributes content through its website, the PSM News platform, PSM Air and social media. No publicly available PSM editorial policy governing generative artificial intelligence, synthetic media, automated production or the disclosure of AI-assisted content was identified, and no binding national framework specifically regulating the use of AI by Maldivian media was identified.

Classification rationale

PSM remains classified State-Controlled (SC). It is wholly owned by the state and governed through a board appointed within the executive-controlled state-enterprise system. Its Managing Director is appointed by the Privatisation and Corporatisation Board rather than through an independent or publicly accountable selection process. No protected tenure, independent nomination mechanism or enforceable statutory editorial firewall insulates the broadcaster’s leadership or newsroom from political authority.

PSM receives substantial public financial support alongside commercial revenue, although no current audited breakdown was identified that would establish the precise state share of total income. Historical funding evidence nevertheless shows sustained reliance on government capital injections, subsidies and grants.

The Public Service Media Act gives PSM public-service responsibilities and formally constitutes it separately from a government department. These are relevant countervailing features, but they have not produced arm’s-length governance or demonstrable editorial autonomy. An MJRC assessment found coverage heavily concentrated on official activity and government narratives, with limited scrutiny and opposing perspectives.

July 2026