Ecuador’s controversial agency that controls the content of media outlets (Supercom, as it is known for its acronym in Spanish) has again admitted a complaint against newspaper El Universo for a cartoon created by Xavier Bonilla, known as Bonil.
The complaint, filed on behalf of the Ecuadorian Federation of LGBT Organizations, concerns a cartoon by Bonil published in the newspaper on Dec. 28, 2015, according to El Universo.
Supercom admitted the complaint for alleged failure to comply with Article 62 of the Law of Communication, El Comercio reported.
The article prohibits the diffusion of “discriminatory content that has the purpose or effect of undermining or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights recognized in the Constitution and by international entities.”
The article also “prohibits the dissemination of message through media that constitute advocacy of discrimination and incitement to carry out practices or violent acts based on some sort of discriminatory message.”
The cartoon shows a woman asking a pregnant woman: “What will it be? Man or woman?” The pregnant woman responds: “I don’t know. We must wait to see which it chooses on the identity card.”
In December 2015, the Ecuadoran National Assembly passed a law that would change the word "sex" to "gender" on the official identification card, reported Ecuavisa. Supporters of the bill said it allows people to self-identify their own gender.
Bonil responded to Supercom’s latest action via his Twitter account on Jan. 7. Next to the cartoon and a letter denouncing it, Bonil posted the following: “Can anyone with sound judgment and an honest heart accept such stupidity? I would laugh at such silliness if it weren’t for the history of certain people…”
In January 2014, Bonil was the first media worker summoned by Supercom after the agency was created in 2013, according to a previous report from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. Officials said his cartoon depicting a police search of the house of a journalist and activist was defamatory.
Newspaper El Universo, which published the cartoon, was forced to publish a “correction” cartoon and was fined.
Then, in February 2015, Supercom forced Bonil and El Universo to publish an apology for a cartoon it determined violated the Law of Communication by distributing discriminatory content. A group of Afro-Ecuadorian organizations filed a complaint concerning the cartoon, which depicted a ruling party representative having troubles reading a speech at the National Assembly.
National and international organizations dedicated to freedom of expression and of the press have repeatedly condemned Supercom’s work.
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.
