Maldives

The Maldives has operated as a multiparty democracy since the adoption of its current Constitution in 2008. The Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, provided that it is exercised in a manner not contrary to any tenet of Islam. Freedom House identifies this religious qualification, together with restrictive legislation, harassment and political and commercial influence, as a source of self-censorship. It rates the Maldives “Partly Free” with a score of 41/100 in 2026, down from 43 the previous year, and gives the country only 1/4 for free and independent media.

The country nevertheless retains a diverse private-media sector. Newspapers, broadcasters and digital outlets operate alongside the state broadcaster, including Mihaaru, Sun, Adhadhu, Maldives Independent, Raajje TV and VTV. Freedom House reports that political and business interests influence many outlets and that state-owned enterprises provide an important indirect source of media funding through sponsorship and advertising.

The regulatory framework was fundamentally changed during the review period. On 18 September 2025, President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Act, Law No. 16/2025. The Act dissolved the Maldives Media Council and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission and replaced them with a single seven-member Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission. It permits fines of up to approximately US$1,620 for individual journalists and US$6,485 for media companies, temporary licence restrictions during investigations, court action seeking licence cancellation and police intervention to halt broadcasts. The bill passed after opposition legislators protesting against it were removed from the parliamentary chamber.

A related proposal had been withdrawn in November 2024 after the president said it did not reflect his policies. The enacted law drew strong opposition from domestic and international press-freedom organisations, which argued that the new commission lacked adequate independence and possessed disproportionate enforcement powers. Journalists demonstrated against the legislation, and in May 2026 the Maldives Journalists Association supported a petition calling for its repeal. RSF describes the new commission as lacking independence.

Enforcement began soon after the new framework took effect. In January 2026, the commission ordered Adhadhu to remove a political cartoon and suspend its cartoon feature while an investigation was conducted. The illustration included a figure resembling President Muizzu and depicted money being taken from a person bowed in prayer; Adhadhu maintained that it concerned theft during religious gatherings and challenged the commission’s legal authority to issue an interim takedown order.

Pressure intensified after Adhadhu published the documentary Aisha, containing allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power against President Muizzu, which he denied. Police raided the outlet’s newsroom on 27 April 2026, seizing 20 laptops and other storage equipment, and imposed travel restrictions on its chief executive and managing editor. On 12 May, journalists Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Naseer were sentenced to 15 and 10 days’ imprisonment respectively for breaching a court gag order. The hearings were held behind closed doors, and the journalists were given approximately two hours to obtain legal representation. Press-freedom groups described them as the first media workers jailed on criminal charges since the adoption of the 2008 Constitution.

Human Rights Watch reported that Naseer was subsequently placed in solitary confinement and denied treatment for a skin condition that had worsened in custody. On 13 July 2026, the High Court overturned an earlier registrar’s decision refusing to accept an appeal by the Maldives Journalists Association against the gag order. The majority found that the publication ban did not cite a provision of the Criminal Procedure Act and had not been issued through the procedures applicable to a pretrial motion. The ruling allowed the appeal to proceed; it was not itself a final judgment cancelling the gag order.

The State Media Monitor maps one state-media organisation in the Maldives:

• Public Service Media, the state broadcaster, remains classified State-Controlled (SC). Established under the Public Service Media Act 2015, it operates television brands including Television Maldives, PSM News, YES TV, Maldives TV and Munnaaru; radio services including Dhivehiraajjeyge Adu, Dhivehi FM and Dheenuge Adu; digital platforms; and the Maldives Media Institute.

PSM is wholly state-owned. Its board and managing director are appointed through the executive-controlled state-enterprise system administered by the Privatisation and Corporatisation Board, without an independent nomination process or parliamentary confirmation of the broadcaster’s individual directors. No protected tenure, independently constituted governing board or enforceable statutory editorial firewall insulates its leadership and newsroom from political authority.

PSM’s governing statute did not materially change during the review period. Its external accountability environment did: the two previously separate media and broadcasting bodies were abolished and replaced by a single regulator with extensive licensing and sanctioning powers. The new commission’s institutional independence is contested by Maldivian journalists’ organisations, international rights groups and RSF.

The replacement of the regulatory structure does not by itself determine PSM’s classification. The decisive factors remain the broadcaster’s complete state ownership, executive-controlled appointments, substantial dependence on public support and the absence of enforceable safeguards for editorial autonomy. There was no evidentiary basis for changing PSM’s State-Controlled classification in 2026.

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