Abdullah II (1962–)

King Abdullah II ascended to the throne as monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in February 1999 following the death of his father, King Hussein. Educated at British Sandhurst Military Academy, King Abdullah II has served in the Army as commander of the Jordanian Special Forces (1994). His global views, coupled with his perfect mastery of both English and Arabic, have resulted in positive political communication performances and open orientations to the media. Although Jordanian media were already experiencing some liberalization in their public discourse and structures in the aftermath of King Hussein's death, the realities of both geography and politics seemed to have mitigated against sustainable free practices. Surrounded by politically unstable settings in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, Jordan, under King Abdullah II, has had to cope with multiple challenges that were bound to affect its destiny. Lack of regional stability and the rise of terrorism as the defining features of the new era have cast dark shadows on Jordan's media system.

King Abdullah II proclaimed continuity of his father's path. Addressing a group of international media reporters in 2000, the king noted that “the legacy that I inherited from my late father, His Majesty King Hussein, and from my grandfathers, is one that has always upheld the integrity of human life. It has consistently called for respecting the rights, and the freedom, of the individual.” When he assumed his position as king of Jordan in 1999, Abdullah II was perceived by many as a liberalizing force set on changing and restructuring some of the archaic structures of the Hashemite kingdom. He has spoken out in favor of strengthening press freedom and modernizing the media. In a February 2003 speech, the king advocated “transparency in our society, because we have nothing to fear.” Yet, the state still controls much of the media even though some positive changes have been initiated. The Jordanian press has seen several positive developments under King Abdullah's reign, including the reform of several articles of the restrictive Press and Publications Law (PPL), the passage of new legislation to allow private broadcast media, and an apparent halt to the practice of arbitrarily detaining journalists.