The Science and Technology, Communication and Information Commission of the lower chamber of Congress in Brazil rejected a bill that would have specifically allowed the use of the Internet as an official outlet for publication of federal, state and local information, according to IDGNow.
The proposal, put forward by the Commission of Participative Legislation, would have enabled control of publication of official government information, especially in small towns where information is published on the walls of city hall, rather than in newspapers, explained Agência Câmara.
Congressman Paulo Abi-Ackel argued that the Internet already is covered in existing legislation, in a decree that regulates the publication of official acts in the official government newspaper, including electronic media.
The initiative still must be voted on by three other committees and then the full legislative chamber.
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.
