
Number of LATAM projects as of June 2023
COUNTRIES | PROJECTS | |
---|---|---|
ARGENTINA | 7 | |
BRAZIL | 28 | |
CHILE | 3 | |
COLOMBIA | 14 | |
ECUADOR | 2 | |
GUATEMALA | - | |
MEXICO | 13 | |
PARAGUAY | 2 | |
PERU | 2 |
Topics bills presented between August 2021 and June 2023
Access to information | 6.9% | |
Bullying | 10.3% | |
Apologia | 5.2% | |
Freedom of expression | 8.6% | |
Equality and non-discrimination | 17.2% | |
Internet Access | 1.7% |
Privacy | 1.7% | |
Protection of minors | 15.5% | |
Reputation and honor | 5.2% | |
Content moderation | 5.2% | |
Gender Violence | 5.2% | |
Indigenous rights | 3.4% | |
Fake News | 1.7% |
Subjects bills presented between August 2021 and June 2023
Access to information | 4.8% | |
Bullying | 9.5% | |
Apologia | 4.8% | |
Freedom of worship | 1.6% | |
Equality and non-discrimination | 15.9% | |
Official advertising | 4.8% | |
Fake News | 1.6% | |
Protection of minors | 14.3% | |
Reputation and honor | 4.8% | |
Content moderation | 4.8% |
01/06
The Commission for Women and Diversities of the Chamber of Deputies arranged incorporate a bill on digital violence into Law 26.485 as another form of sexist violence known as the Olimpia Law, which mainly highlights the removal of content.
GENDER VIOLENCE CONTENT MODERATION
06/06
in Palermo they vandalized a plaque that honors the young woman who disappeared during La Noche de los Lápices. Said denialist and reprehensible inscriptions manifest in favor of the deputy and pre-candidate for the presidency, Javier Milei.
APOLOGY DENIATIONISM
08/06
The Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELs) revealed the leak of a document that described strategies to manipulate public opinion and delegitimize the environmental discourses that confront offshore oil exploitation in Mar del Plata.
DISINFORMATION ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Google Argentina communicated that will create new charges in the country for "exchange instability" and the gap in which Argentina is subjected to the dollar. The new charge will be geared towards operating costs related to fluctuations in the Argentine market, so the new measure will increase costs when deciding to use Google.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
19/06
The National Securities Commission was seen involved in the publication of 1.5TB of personal data stored in its database after failing to pay the ransom of US $500.000 impuesto by cyber criminals. The entity has been questioned for its mismanagement in the face of threats. In this publication it was announced sensitive data, passwords, hearings, minutes, complaints, databases and employee files.
PERSONAL DETAILS PRIVACY
23/06
The Supreme Court found the reason to the journalist Santiago O'Donnell in the process brought against him and motivated by Mariano Macri for the publication of the book "Hermano", in which the delivery of recordings of interviews that were used as journalistic data for the development had been requested from the book. The ruling indicated that Mariano Macri's request did not have sufficiently supported arguments to request the delivery of said recordings and indicated that the case could involve federal issues invoked by the journalist such as the rights to freedom of expression, access to information and the protection of journalistic archives.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ACCESS TO INFORMATION FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
01/06
Released for trial in the TSE action against Bolsonaro for improper use of the media. Minister Benedito Gonçalves, General Corregidor of Electoral Justice, released for trial in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) an action that deals with the misuse of the media and the abuse of political power by former President Jair Bolsonaro. Specifically, the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) filed an electoral judicial investigation action (Aije) after Bolsonaro published on his social networks a meeting with ambassadors in which he attacked the Brazilian electoral system, criticizing electronic ballot boxes. In August, Minister Mauro Campbell Marques had provisionally ordered Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) to remove the video of the meeting, pointing out that many of the former president's claims had already been refuted by the TSE, and that the content disseminated on social networks could constitute an "abusive means to obtain votes". Bolsonaro's defense argued that the reliability of the electoral system had been legitimately addressed, within the limits of personal freedom of conviction. The PDT, on the other hand, claimed that Bolsonaro had misused his political power. The decision of minister Benedito Gonçalves requires the inclusion in the Aije agenda by the president of the TSE, minister Alexandre de Moraes. The trial could, as requested by the PDT, make Bolsonaro ineligible.
DISINFORMATION
05/06
The project seeks to implement the national legal entity registration requirement for opening accounts on social networks. Federal deputy Miguel Lombardi presented el Bill 2.939/2023, which seeks to establish a mechanism for verifying the identity of legal persons on social platforms. In his justification, the deputy argues that almost all legal persons use social networks, but that the registration of these accounts requires little information. According to him, almost no platform requires proof of identity registration, such as the CNPJ (in Brazil, the national registry of legal persons), which would create a favorable environment for fraud. According to the text of the project, Fake profiles could mislead users and carry out scams such as selling non-existent products and services, as well as capturing people's personal and financial information. Therefore, PL 2.939 intends to modify the Civil Framework of the Internet (12.965 / 14) to include an article that establishes the need to verify the existence of the legal person to open an account on a social network. According to the wording of the proposal, the service providers would be responsible for guaranteeing the authenticity of the validation documents, creating an identification mark of the accounts with verified CNPJ and, finally, establishing mechanisms to receive complaints of fraudulent accounts.
IDENTITY PERSONAL DETAILS
14/06
Justice orders Tiktok to remove harmful speech against people with Down Syndrome. Following the request of the Public Defender of Paraná, Judge José Eduardo de Mello Leitão Salmon, of the 4th civil court of Curitiba/PR, has issued a court order provisional law that requires TikTok to remove from its platform a video in which a comedian from Portugal discriminates against children with Down Syndrome. The judge has established a period of five days for TikTok to comply with the order. The video, posted on the profile of “Mr. Hugo Soares» on the social networks Youtube and TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance Brasil, presents a joke related to the new Mattel Barbie doll that has features of people with Down Syndrome. In May, a group of 12 families of children with Down Syndrome residing in Curitiba/PR described the video as discriminatory and cruel. As a result, they went to the Ombudsman's office in the center of the capital in search of legal assistance. The public defender and author of the request for advance precautionary measure, considers that this decision is of great importance due to the continuous violation of the rights of people with Down Syndrome, since the content of the video is still available online and being consumed by an increasing number of people.
CONTENT MODERATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
15/06
Alexandre de Moraes orders the blocking of new profiles on social networks created by the influencer Monark. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the social networks Discord, Instagram, Rumble, Telegram and Twitter to block the profiles of Bruno Monteiro Aiub, known as Monark, under penalty of a daily fine of R$100.000. According to the decision, after the anti-democratic acts of January 8, Moraes had already ordered the blocking of a series of the influencer's accounts. However, the Special Counsel for Confronting Disinformation of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (AEED/TSE) detected that Monark had created new profiles, through which he would have disseminated false news. Specifically, on the Rumble platform, the influencer stated: "We see the TSE censoring people, we see Alexandre de Moraes arresting people, you see a lot of things happening, and at the same time, preventing the transparency of the ballot box? You get suspicious, what cheating is going on at those ballot boxes? Given this, Moraes affirmed that it was "necessary, appropriate and urgent" to interrupt the spread of hate speech, subversion of order and incentive to the rupture of institutional and democratic normality. In addition to the blocking of accounts on social networks, the minister ordered that the registered data of the accounts be provided, as well as the complete preservation of the content disseminated.. Lastly, Moraes determined that Monark refrain from publishing, promoting, replicating and sharing fraudulent news, under penalty of a daily fine of R$ 10.000. In January of this year, the São Paulo court denied Monark your request to reinstate the monetization of your Youtube channel.
DISINFORMATION CONTENT MODERATION
Pastor in religious institution is ordered to remove homophobic speech from video by judicial decision in Brasilia. Judge Lívia Lourenço Gonçalves, of the 4th Civil Chamber of Taguatinga, has made the decision to order a religious institution in Brasilia to remove a video containing a homophobic speech delivered by a pastor during a conference. The statements included phrases like “Every homosexual has a reservation in hell, every lesbian has a reservation in hell, every transgender has a reservation in hell, every bisexual has a reservation in hell".
The notification establishes a period of 48 hours to comply with the order. The plaintiffs in this case are the National LGBTI Alliance (ABRAFH) and the Brazilian Association of Homotransaffective Families, who presented accusations backed by credible evidence. The plaintiffs' urgent request required the removal of the offensive content from all social media platforms, including those related to the conference, arguing that the speech violated the dignity of people in the LGBTQ+ community and promoted hate speech and discriminatory acts of violence. The judge considered that the dissemination of videos of the event with an alleged hate speech towards a specific community, based on supposed religious interpretations that to a large extent do not reflect the Christian spirit, could encourage discriminatory and violent attitudes on the part of the faithful towards LGBT+ people, which is not admissible. The video is ordered to be removed from all social networks of the defendant and of the event, with a daily fine of R$50,000 until reaching the limit of the value of the case, which is R$5 million.
CONTENT MODERATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION HATE SPEECH
16/06
Project seeks to establish guidelines for the professions of content creators and digital influencers. Federal representative Fábio Teruel (MDB/SP) presented a bill that seeks to establish guidelines for the professions of internet content creators and digital influencers. The Bill 3.117/2023 considers as such the people who produce, disseminate and monetize content through platforms. It also establishes rights for the professional, such as freedom of expression and creation within legal limits, protection of privacy and private life, maintenance of content created on social networks -except when it is illegal- and remuneration by application providers. of internet that offer monetization. The project also seeks to establish duties for the professional, such as taking care of the veracity of what is disseminated, respecting copyright, not disclosing offensive content and taxing advertising. In its justification, the deputy argues that digital influencers play a fundamental role in the dissemination of information and the formation of opinions of the population. According to him, the project seeks to establish a balance between the freedom of expression of creators and the protection of the public, creating a safer environment and strengthening their professionalization.
CONTENT MODERATION DISINFORMATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Judge orders Microsoft to remove defamatory information on artificial intelligence tool. He The Migalhas website published a news item informing that Judge Jayter Cortez Junior, of the 7th Vara Cível de Bauru, granted a precautionary measure for Microsoft to remove from its search platform, Bing, information that erroneously attributes the authorship of related behaviors to a doctor with sexual harassment. According to the report, the "Novo Bing", Microsoft's artificial intelligence tool developed in collaboration with OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, returned false information that a doctor was being investigated for a crime of harassment as a result of a search, when in In reality, he was acting as an adviser to the Regional Council of Medicine in the investigation of these events. The judge granted the precautionary measure to remove the information from the site within 48 hours and, in case of non-compliance, set a fine that could go up to R$ 250.000,00.
DEFAMATION ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DISINFORMATION
TJSP rules that Google Maps is not required to maintain up-to-date photos of a business. The 27th Private Law Chamber of the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJSP) rejected the appeal of a company that requested updated photos of its facade on Google Maps. The action was brought by a hotel establishment that claimed to have suffered damage due to old images displayed on the platform, which showed the inn "in ruins." The request was denied in the first instance, thus rejecting compensation for moral damages and eliminating the obligation of a search platform to show an updated photo of the establishments as such. The plaintiff filed a second instance appeal, which was unanimously rejected by the TJSP. The rapporteur, Judge Daise Fajardo Nogueira Jacot, stressed that the Google Maps image service, in addition to being free, is not continuous and meets certain pre-established criteria for updating, therefore it does not generate such obligations. She also pointed out that, after the hotel establishment's complaint directly to Google Maps, the images of the inn were blurred, which would have ceased the damage to the plaintiff.
CONTENT MODERATION
16/06
In Colombia, a new electoral code was approved. Since the code had to be approved by a statutory law, the project had to be studied and approved in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the same legislature —a period of one year. After being processed in the Senate, the project reached the Chamber two weeks after the closing of the legislature. The Karisma Foundation explained, among other things, that the proposed code does not offer sufficient guarantees of transparency on the part of the third parties involved in the disclosure of results and scrutiny. Now the approved Code will have to be automatically reviewed by the Constitutional Court.
ELECTIONS ACCESS TO INFORMATION
20/06
The first year of work of the current Congress was closed. With the closure, bills that were presented but did not make any progress during this period were also shelved, including projects that sought to create the National Digital Security Agency, make the participation of presidential candidates in at least two presidential debates mandatory, increase transparency and citizen participation with the creation of a virtual platform for Congress and create the crime of apology for drug trafficking.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
27/06
Michael Greenspon, President of the Inter-American Press Association (SIP) stated concern before the creation of an Advisory Commission against disinformation within the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation. Michael Greenspon pointed out that these types of mechanisms tend to have negative effects on freedom of expression and of the press because they are oriented towards ideological biases.
DISINFORMATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
28/06
In Ecuador there is concern about freedom of expression and of the press in the face of the political crisis that the country is experiencing and the increase in insecurity that revolves around journalists. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists and Fundamedios presented recommendations to the executive branch, justice authorities and the international community in search of addressing the situation of vulnerability in which the journalistic exercise finds itself.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
21/06
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE) stated concern before the sentence to 6 years in prison to the journalist José Rubén Zamora in Guatemala. The Eighth Criminal Sentencing Court convicted the president and founder of El Periódico for the crime of money laundering. The IACHR and the RELE reported having received information on effects on the guarantees of due process, the prolonged use of pretrial detention, and serious limitations on the right to defense, committing, through the RELE, to carry out a visit in situ supervision of precautionary measures in favor of Mr. Zamora.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
22/06
Article 19 published the report of the findings of the international mission on freedom of the press and expression in Guatemala, which found, among other things, the risks to these rights during electoral times; signifying a democratic setback in the face of the progress made in the fight against corruption, with a political, economic and military elite that has reintroduced its model of impunity.
ELECTIONS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
05/06
The organizations Article 19, R3D and Social Tic demand that an independent, diligent and exhaustive investigation be carried out on the espionage cases by the Mexican armed forces, as well as to stop hiding the information related to the acquisition and use of Pegasus by the Mexican Government, this as a result of the fact that it was once again revealed that the historian Camilo Vicente Ovalle, responsible for coordinating the investigations of the Commission for Access to the Truth about the Dirty War in Mexico.
PRIVACY ACCESS TO INFORMATION
15/06
Various organizations and specialists regarding the right to information, they asked the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, in particular Minister Javier Laynez Potisek, to revoke the refusal to implement the measure of provisional suspension in the Constitutional Controversy 280/ 2023 requested by the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data, so that this autonomous body can hold sessions and resolve thousands of appeals in which the right of access to information of thousands of people requesting information is analyzed. government in Mexico.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
20/06
The organizations Article 19, Communication and Information of Women, Committee for the Protection of Journalists, National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations "All Rights for All", among others, expressed their concern about the climate of violence in the State of Chiapas, which include banners with messages from organized crime against the press. Therefore, they demand that the Mechanism for the Protection of Defenders and Journalists of the Ministry of the Interior take preventive measures and design public prevention policies, including the issuance of early warnings.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS GENDER VIOLENCE
07/06
The bill that seeks to "create the electronic medical record and the national registry of electronic medical records". The Association of Technology, Education, Development, Research, Communication (TEDIC) was convened to discuss the content of the initiative, said organization he found lack of regulations for the protection of personal data, lack of evaluation of human rights, lack of the right to be removed from a database, access to sensitive health data, among other aspects that concern the civil society organization.
PERSONAL DETAILS
16/06
The Science and Technology Commission, whose presidency corresponds to the deputy Sebastián García (PPQ-Capital) and the Association of Technology, Education, Development, Research, Communication (TEDIC) carried out the presentation of the investigation “The misinformation. Challenges in the electoral context in Paraguay”. There, the founder of TEDIC expressed the concerns and challenges that misinformation in electoral contests implies by creating tension between the need to protect the integrity of the electoral process and preserve freedom of expression. He highlighted that the process requires different actors such as the government, civil society, technology companies and the media to develop effective digital education strategies, promote media literacy and strengthen the accountability of online platforms.
DISINFORMATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ELECTIONS
01/06
Segundo Montalvo, congressman of the political party Peru Libre, reacted with insults and shoving against journalists who, during his visit to the Amazonas region as part of the representation week, asked him about his performance and legislative production. The event occurred during a public hearing at the regional government premises.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
06/06
A strong police contingent fenced the street where the headquarters of the National Prosecutor's Office are located to prevent the press from closely covering the arrival of President Dina Boluarte, summoned to give her testimony in the framework of the investigations against her government for those killed in the December protests 2022 and January 2023. The event occurred in downtown Lima. Journalists from different media outlets tried to record Boluarte's arrival but were removed by police personnel. State security personnel forbade Latina TV reporter Stefania Medina from continuing to film, who had managed to get around the police cordon, despite the fact that she was filming from public roads.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION PRESS FREEDOM
15/06
The full Congress rejected on second ballot the bill that sought to modify article 132 of the Penal Code to increase up to four years of imprisonment for the commission of the crime of aggravated defamation. The legislative initiative, described as a "gag law", had been approved in the first vote by Congress.
DEFAMATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
20/06
People close to former Prime Minister Betsy Chávez lashed out journalists César Cano Ramos from Canal N, Javier Rumiche Gómez from RPP, Liz Ferrer Rivera from La República and Silvio Alvis Porroa from Exitosa, who were correspondents for national media in Tacna. The journalists were covering the events leading up to Chávez's arrest, after the Permanent Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice ordered 18 months of preventive detention in the framework of an investigation for the alleged crimes of rebellion and conspiracy. According to reports from the National Association of Journalists, the attackers insulted, beat, and stole belongings from the communicators while they were conducting live broadcasts.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
27/06
The second criminal court of Lima declared the prescription of the criminal action in the process for aggravated defamation followed against the journalist Daniel Yovera. The trial against the journalist began after the international network Al Jazeera broadcast a report on the religious organization Sodalicio Vida Cristiana in December 2016, in which the Peruvian journalist collaborated. After the publication, the businessman Alberto Gómez de la Torre Pretell, mentioned in the report, denounced the journalist for the crime of aggravated defamation. The technical defense of the journalist He questioned the judicial sentence for not having ruled on the merits of the matter and not having declared the defendant's innocence.
DEFAMATION FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION