The chief executive of the ministry overseeing the communication sector in Tonga says criticism of recently implemented regulations is misplaced.
St George Government Building, Nuku'alofa CBD Photo: Matangi Tonga
Paula Ma'u said the regulations were already in the charter for broadcasting licencing.
Ma'u said what the government did was cut the penalties for licensees to 20 percent of what they had been facing.
Media professionals had complained that the regulations appeared to reduce media freedom.
They also said they had not been informed by the government.
But Ma'u said they were wrong on both counts.
He said the government was not hampering media freedom with the regulations and that he had met with the broadcast parties of the Media Association of Tonga to inform them about what they were doing.
