The International Press Institute has urged the Caribbean countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Martin to examine and change their criminal defamation laws.
The limits that Brazilian law places on the publication of historical biographies threatens freedom of expression and the preservation of memory, writers Mário Magalhães and Audálio Dantas said at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference while discussing the challenges of writing an unauthorized biography.
Of the 124,394 applications received during the first 18 months since Brazil’s new Law of Access to Information (LAI) went into effect, 5.15 percent came from journalists, according to Brazil’s Inspector General Jorge Hage.
Mexico, El Salvador and Antigua are ranked higher than Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia on a global ranking of right to information laws, according to the annual ratings prepared by Access Info Europe (AIE) and Halifax-based Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD).
A Brazilian bill seeking to regulate Internet use is still under debate and Congress is set to vote on it by the end of October, according to Estado de São Paulo.
In the form of a letter, Reporters without Borders (RSF in French) has just taken up arms against a recently passed Grenada law that punishes offensive content posted on the Internet. The letter, drafted by Secretary-general Christophe Deloire, urges Grenada’s Governor-General to veto the Electronic Crimes Law so that amendments could be made to it to ensure that freedom of speech would not be threatened by its provisions.
A total of 55 radio and television frequencies will be appropriated by the Ecuadorian government for failing to comply with the country's new communications law, said telecommunications minister Jaime Guerrero during a Sep. 20 press conference, news portal Infobae reported.
The Information Crimes Law, also being called "Beingolea Law" after Congressman Alberto Beingolea or "Frankenstein anti internet law" by some of its opponents, was approved almost by unanimity on Peru's Congress on Sep. 12 amid concerns over its possible effects on online privacy and freedom of expression.
Uruguay is the most recent country to propose a comprehensive media law to update for the 21st century the norms and regulations overseeing its communications. In May, President José Alberto “Pepé” Mujica sent the proposed bill to the Uruguayan legislature. The Senate is expected to vote on it by the end of the year.
The Grenada Parliament has passed a law to sanction offensive online content, which could punish defamation through the Internet with up to one year in prison, the International Press Institute (IPI) informed.
Numerous protests led by journalists across Bolivia rallied earlier this month in the country's most important cities and squares to protest against a new federal transparency bill that would limit -- instead of expanding -- access to public information, news agency AFP reported.
The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information, a coalition of several organizations from 19 countries in Latin America and the U.S., wrote an open letter to senators and other Uruguayan officials expressing its concern over a series of proposed amendments to the country's Law on Public Access of Information. According to the group, the proposed changes are "regressive" in nature and could significantly limit citizens' access to government information.