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Proposed law would restrict sensational photos in Colombian newspapers, websites

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  • August 23, 2010

By Ingrid Bachmann

Even as controversy erupted in Venezuela over a ban on the publication of violent photos, in Colombia a senator from the ruling coalition has offered up a bill that would prohibit the publication of "mildly pornographic" or sensational images in print media and websites, reported El Espectador and the news agency Europa Press.

The bill (the text of which is reproduced here by El Nuevo Día) suggests that print publications with such images must be covered in an opaque, sealed envelope, plus come with a warning about its content. In the case of electronic media, the bill demands "a dark fence with a warning about the content."

The initiative is not supported by Colombian media, which consider the bill a step toward censorship, explained El Mundo.

Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.