Kenyan police have cancelled an order summoning journalists for questioning over their reports of looting and disarray among security forces during the Westgate mall massacre.
The order for two reporters and an executive from the KTN television station to appear for questioning on Thursday had sparked anger from rights groups and other media.
But an Interior Ministry official later said the order had been retracted.
"After wide consultations, the summons have been cancelled," said the official, who was not authorised to speak to the media.
"The journalists and their CEO are not required to record statements anymore."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Kenyan media reported widely on the ransacking of the upmarket shopping centre as soldiers battled Islamist gunmen in the siege in which at least 67 people died when al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab gunmen carried out a shooting spree.
Security camera footage from the mall broadcast at the weekend showed soldiers carrying white plastic bags out of the supermarket shortly after the gunmen went on a shooting spree, executing children in the shopping aisles.
Police Inspector General David Kimaiyo had said there was "a limit" to media freedom after the reports on last month's four-day siege.
Kimaiyo had previously warned police were looking "very closely" at the law and warned some reporters "would be apprehended and appear before the court".
George Ojuka, a senior Nairobi police commander who announced the summons, said sections of an hour-long KTN television documentary were "grossly misinforming and inciting".
But the Law Society of Kenya said the move by police was "an attempt to interfere with the constitutional right to freedom of the media and expression", while the National Commission on Human Rights said it was "concerned".
The Standard newspaper, which has the same owners as KTN, published a cartoon that shows a journalist silenced by a giant padlock through his lip marked "press freedom", as a government official walks away with the key.
Citizen News said it was a "sad day" for Kenya's media, who are "witnessing the unacceptable return of the outdated repression of the fundamental freedoms and rights integral to the industry".
Kenya's security forces were initially praised for bravery in battling the insurgents, but were later heavily criticised after shopkeepers entering the mall after the siege said their stores had been ransacked.
However, Kenya's army chief Julius Karangi on Tuesday insisted officers did not loot, taking drinks from the supermarket only "to quench their thirst" while other goods were taken for "sanitisation to ensure their safety".
