"A project to regulate content that circulates in social media was presented by legislator Juan José Huanca Mamani, member of the ruling party Movement Towards Socialism (MAS, by its Spanish acronym) in Bolivia. The document proposes a reform in the Penal Code to incorporate the crime 'against dignity through social media' and a punishment by imprisonment of five to seven years for attacking 'the image or dignity of one or more natural and legal persons.'
Our partner, the National Press Association (ANP), rejected the draft regulation of social media and, after a legal analysis, warned that the content presents an open prior censorship that is contrary to international treaties and the Political Constitution of the State (CPE).
From Red Voces del Sur we join ANP to warn that an open and arbitrary regulation of the use of social media would be contrary to international standards that guarantee free expression as a human right, fundamental for the protection of other rights."
