The Vienna, Austria based International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, publishers and leading journalists, is calling on Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt to immediately reverse his order banning the Samoa Observer from weekly press conferences and to recommit to the principles of a free press.

“Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa’s ban on the Samoa Observer, barely two months into his term, sends a dangerous message about the future of the Samoan free press under his leadership,” IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said in a statement.

Griffen said a free press is central to any functioning democracy. “IPI reminds the prime minister that a free press is an unassailable element to any vibrant democracy,” he said. “It is both the job of journalists to ask difficult questions and the duty of elected officials to respect the media’s right to seek answers, even, especially, when their questions are uncomfortable. Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa must immediately drop this harmful ban, take any complaints through the proper channels and recommit to the value of a free press.”

IPI noted that the Samoa Observer is the country’s only daily newspaper and the leading source of independent news in the South Pacific state. It said the ban, which also applies to the paper’s coverage of cabinet ministers, will severely hinder its work.

The organisation also highlighted that the right to freedom of speech and expression is protected under Samoa’s Constitution. Samoa’s Media Council Act 2015 provides a formal mechanism for lodging and adjudicating complaints about media coverage, including any concerns raised by the prime minister.

IPI joins a growing list of international and regional organisations that have criticised the ban, warning it could erode Samoa’s long-standing democratic traditions.