The International Press Institute has warned the Government that its "deeply flawed" media council bill could damage its reputation around the world.

The global network of editors, media executives and journalists, based in Vienna, issued a statement yesterday arguing that the proposed council would be inherently biased, would infringe press freedom and could prevent the free flow of information.

It urged the Government to withdraw the draft legislation and talk again to the Island's media industry about how it should be regulated.

The warning follows opposition to the bill from other global press freedom organisations, including US-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the CPU (Commonwealth Press Union) Media Trust.

The IPI statement, sent all over the world from the organisation's Austrian headquarters and posted on its website, said the Media Council Act 2010 could have a "detrimental impact" on the reputation of the Bermuda Government.

The bill was tabled in the House of Assembly on May 7, a day after Premier Ewart Brown released it to the media, and could be debated and approved by MPs as soon as Friday.

The council would establish a code of practice for the media and a complaints procedure to deal with breaches of the code.

The IPI is concerned that six members of the council would be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Premier, with just five further media representatives.

"The bill would appear to have a bias that jeopardises not only the council's decision-making process but also any future code of practice for the media," according to the statement.

"Most worryingly, section 15 (3) (d) contains a powerful prior restraint clause enabling the council to prevent the publication and broadcasting of 'any news, or comment on the news, that is the subject of the complaint'.

"Due to the bias inherent within the council, this power could be abused to prevent the free flow of information within Bermuda and might be used by complainants to prevent investigative journalism."

The IPI, which works to safeguard press freedom, said the "controversial" media bill appeared to have "more in common with the media legislation of some of the repressive governments in Latin America, than with the First Amendment tradition of one of its close trading partners, the United States".

It added: "Having examined the draft bill, the International Press Institute, the global network for a free media, believes it to be deeply flawed."

IPI director David Dadge said: "It is very unfortunate that Bermuda, with its geographical closeness to the United States and its cultural and political ties to the United Kingdom, has managed to draft a law that would be wholly unacceptable in both countries.

"Media councils should be freely chosen by the local media and they should be independent and self-regulating.

"They should not be enacted by law and contain an inbuilt bias to the state and create powers that, if applied, would deeply inhibit the media's ability to act in the public interest."

Mr. Dadge encouraged Government "to withhold this bill from Parliament and to go back to holding a dialogue with the local media".

Premier Ewart Brown's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the IPI statement.

Read the full statement at www.freemedia.at.

* You can download and read the complete Media Council Act. by clicking here.