Latin American journalists increasingly are facing legal threats to freedom of expression, according to experts on the panel "The Legal Threats to Press Freedom: From the Old Criminal Defamation Laws to the Newest Attempts to Regulate the Internet," during the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and the Open Society Fondations, held May 20-22 in Austin, Texas.
The Bolivian Senate has proposed a bill that would regulate social networks, and would be attached to the Law to Fight Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, reported the news site Eju TV.
Brazilians can now count on an Information Access Law to obtain data and non-secret government documents without having to provide justification for their information requests. The information access law went into effect on Wednesday, May 16, making Brazil one of 91 countries with freedom of informationlaws, reported ABC News and the newspaper Zero Hora. Also, the decree that regulates this law was signed by President Dilma Rousseff.
The Center for Informative Reports of Guatemala (Cerigua in Spanish) criticized the closure of two community radio stations and six local television channels so far in May. According to Cerigua, dozens of community broadcasters operate illegally because of a lack of legislation that would grant them operating licenses. As a result, the stations often suffer persecution at the hands of local authorities.
After the recent killing of Mexican journalist Regina Martínez, from the news-magazine Proceso, the Mexican House unanimously approved the Law for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists on Monday, April 30, reported CNN México. The bill mandates that Mexican authorities provide protection for threatened journalists and was already approved last week by the Senate. Now all that is left is for the president of Mexico to put the law into effect.
On Tuesday, April 24, Mexican senators approved a law requiring the Mexican federal government to offer protection to threatened journalists.
"Toward a Censorship-Free Internet ("Hacia una internet libre de censura" in Spanish) is an online book available via free download that analyzes legislation in Latin America addressing freedom of expression and Internet censorship.
On Thursday, April 12, Mexican federal Congress members approved a series of changes to the current Federal Law of Radio and Television that would allow for indigenous communities to request permits to operate radio stations.
Journalists from the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez, the second-most dangerous city in the world, met with Senate candidate Javier Corral to demand a law that would offer employment protection and social assistance to journalists.
After refusing to archive the controversial media regulation bill, the National Assembly of Ecuador decided to postpone the vote on the proposal and decided that it will instead vote article by article.
The National Commission of Telecommunications (Conatel) closed four radio stations and confiscated their transmission equipment in the state of Monagas, Venezuela, on Friday, March 30, reported the NGO Espacio Público.
Brazilian journalists and international journalism organizations are dismayed that Brazil, along with Cuba, Venezuela, India and Pakistan, decided to block a U.N. plan that would have promoted journalists' safety.