
Number of LATAM projects as of April 2022
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 April 2022
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% |
Topics bills presented between August 2021 and April 2022
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% |
29/03
In the city of Buenos Aires appeared posters with the image of Vice President Cristina Kirchner in which the they accused of being responsible for 35.000 thousand deaths during his government and in which he was also the object of insultos and threats. Some time later it was possible to determine the responsible of the dissemination of the posters. As if that were not enough, on March 31 destroyed a statue of the vice president located in the Santa Cruz city of Río Gallegos, showing the nonconformity of some people before their government.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
31/03
After the announcement made by Gustavo Beliz about the search to implement the project "a pact for the proper use of social networks", several political figures spoke out to make clear their position and opinion regarding this initiative. Among them, the deputy Cecilia Moreau and Mauricio Macri, who declared himself to be an “absolutist of freedom of expression”, a strongly opinion criticized if you take into account the recent events with the accusation of directing the Anti-Trade Union Gestapo.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
06/04
The Buenos Aires government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, he asked remove the social plans from the protesters who block streets during the marches, accusing them of being "cowards" and of being extorted and of using minors as "shields". In addition to this, the Minister of Justice of Buenos Aires, Marcelo D'Alessandro, proposed “mark” people in the marches and camps using security cameras to identify the protesters.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION SURVEILLANCE
13/04
They hacked the twitter account of the Minister of Health of the province of Buenos Aires, Nicolás Kreplak, and through which they carried out publications with anti-vaccine messages and opinions against the demonstrations that interrupt the streets. For the minister it is an attack with a clear political position.
PRIVACY
13/04
The Minister of Justice and Security of Buenos Airescirregularly yielded biometric data of seven million people with the use of the Fugitive Facial Recognition System (SNRP). According to the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the use of this system was being used “without any type of control and without accountability before the Legislature or the Ombudsman, which implies that it could have been used to purposes other than those declared", likewise, the Rapporteur of the United Nations Joseph Cannataci had already generated an alert prior to the implementation of this system because "it was a disproportionate decision because to search for a payroll of 40 people required by the Justice affected the privacy of millions”, a situation that caused concern and that allowed the raid to be carried out on the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Urban Monitoring Center.
ESPIONAGE SURVEILLANCE PRIVACY
18/03
The Federal Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro presented a public civil action, requesting the suspension of the effects of the Order 625/2022 of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The Order determined that the streaming platforms would withdraw the film “Como se tornar o pior aluno da escola” from their catalogues. The central argument of the Order was that the action would be “necessary for the protection of children and adolescents”. For the MPF, the measure constitutes an act of censorship, since it disturbs the freedom of artistic expression of the producers and holders of the right to disclose the film and, in general, it captured the fundamental freedom of choice, by the community of consumers. .
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CENSORSHIP
28/03
The Court of Justice of Paraná sanctioned Twitter with R$5 and ordered that the platform must remove from the platform the publications of journalist Glenn Greenwald about former judge Sergio Moro. On 15/03, a Court's preliminary decision had determined that Twitter should remove a publication in which Greenwald referred to Moro as a “corrupt judge”, since the attribution of the adjective "corrupt" without proof forged offense and abuse of the right to demonstrate and communicate. In the new decision, the judge considered that Twitter refused to comply with the sanction without just cause, resulting in the fine. In addition, the decision expands the effects of the emergency relief of the first determination, adds new posts by journalists to the list of posts that must be removed and increases the daily fine, in case of new non-compliance, to R$10 thousand.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CENSORSHIP FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
29/03
The São Paulo Court of Justice rejected the request of the Brazilian playwright Wolf Maya to require Google to hide all matters related to the racial defamation conviction he suffered in 2011 from searches of his name.. Maya had been convicted of the crime committed in 2000 against a lighting technician during the presentation of a play by the playwright. Due to a procedural problem alleged by Maya's defense, the conviction was annulled and, having expired the statute of limitations to file a new criminal complaint, the sentence was declared extinct. Based on this, the playwright claimed the right to be forgotten to disassociate his name from the cause from which, according to him, he would have been acquitted. The judge argued that the extinction of the sentence is not synonymous with acquittal, and that "the general extirpation of information based on the so-called right to be forgotten" is not allowed.
RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN
05/04
El federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro presented Bill No. 836/2022, which seeks to establish rules and transparency mechanisms for messaging and social media providers and establish rules for media education. The text provides, among its principles, the guarantee of "respect for the user in his free formation of political preferences and personal worldview", presumption of good faith in the moderation of content and freedom of expression and initiative. As for provider transparency reports, the text requires that they contain the number of measures applied to accounts and content, requests for review of the user's decision, and information on updating the terms of use and policies. In addition, the project submits to the authorization of the Federal Executive Power the operation of social networks and messaging providers with more than 25 million users who do not have a legal representative in Brazil. In relation to public interest accounts, the text determines that access to them is a diffuse right of the Brazilian population, “protecting the owner of the respective account the right to request prompt replacement in case of suspension or cancellation of the account ”. On hate speech, the proposal aims to share the duty of public authorities and application providers to combat it.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION HATE SPEECH
06/04
The Minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, extended for 60 days the investigation opened against President Jair Bolsonaro by the Parliamentary Investigation Commission (“CPI”) of the Covid. The investigation in question investigates, among other infractions, a complaint made live on YouTube in October 2021 that links the covid-19 vaccine with an "increased risk" of developing AIDS. The decision also granted the request of the Federal Police to require Google to provide, within 10 days, a complete copy of the transmission.
FAKE NEWS
19/04
The House of Representatives and the Senate they rejected the objections made by the president to the bill that seeks to standardize response times to requests for access to public information. Justified in the declaration of a state of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the national government issued in March 2020 the Legislative Decree 491 which doubled the response times in the case of petition rights sent by citizens. Although the activity of public entities has been normalized, the government had refused to revoke the decree. For this reason, Congress approved in November 2021 a bill that sought to revoke the decree, but which was later objected by the President of the Republic due to inconvenience. After the rejection of the objections of both the House and the Senate, the president will be obliged to sanction the project to make it law.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
21/04
The Constitutional Court overturned the law that issued a new Electoral Code that had been approved in December 2020. The code had been criticized by multiple actors, including civil society organizations. Among other things, the code established ambiguous norms to prohibit the good name of political parties and candidates from being affected. In addition, it empowered the National Electoral Council to censor electoral advertising. The Court struck down the law that approved the code due to formal defects.
GOOD NAME CENSORSHIP
25/04
A public hearing was held for the bill that seeks to abolish prostitution in Colombia. Among other things, the project establishes sanctions for platforms that directly or indirectly encourage or promote prostitution. In other words, internet platforms could be responsible for content published by their users for this purpose. In addition, it is proposed that the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (Min. TIC) have powers to block platforms.
MEDIA REGULATION
18/04
Constitutional Convention Chile: proposals for norms rejected and approved on the right to communication. The plenary session of the Constitutional Convention of Chile rejection last Tuesday, April 12, the approval of several articles, among them, the one referring to the "protection of the work of communication", where it was intended that the State guarantee "the protection and safety of journalists and social communication workers, and of those who carry out the work of communicating and informing in any format and communication platform”. An article that established that "the State will develop mechanisms to access a diverse, plural media education, with a gender and human rights approach" did not receive enough votes either. These two proposals are left out of the final draft text.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
20/04
Meanwhile, in the plenary session held on April 20, it was approved the first paragraph of the norm that guarantees the existence of "a system of public media in different technological supports, that respond to the informational, educational, cultural and entertainment needs of the various groups of the population" and the first paragraph of which states that "the telecommunications infrastructure is of public interest, regardless of its patrimonial regime." The rejected paragraphs of these norms must be re-presented by the Convention's Systems of Knowledge, Culture, Science, Technology, Arts and Heritage Commission, to be voted on again in plenary session.
REGULATION OF TECHNOLOGIES
22/04
The Independent Technical Body for Internet speed measurement in Chile is put out to tender again. Five years after the Law of Minimum Guaranteed Internet Speed was published, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications (Subtel) announcing a new call for tenders to define an Independent Technical Organization (OTI) in charge of measuring Internet speed in Chile. Although a previous tender had been made, it was declared void a few years ago.
INTERNET ACCESS
15/04
Journalist opens debate on the need for state security. Carlos Vera is one of the journalists with the longest career in Ecuador, adding more than 40 years of professional experience on television. Vera went off the air during the government of Rafael Correa in what many considered a measure of coercion and silencing of his critical position. Vera has an outspoken and quite particular controversial style when it comes to conducting political interviews.
During the second week of April, a video was leaked in which the journalist requested a change of vehicle to a high command of the police, arguing that it did not have air conditioning and that it was in poor condition. This leak revealed that Vera maintained official State protection with an escort and a car, which was used by many of his detractors as an argument to disqualify him and request official explanations from the Government. This raises a debate about the need for journalists to have State protection, the level of transparency that should exist regarding the indicators to access this type of program, the budget and the level of citizen control. On Sunday, April 24, Carlos Vera publicly announced that the contract he had with the television station to do his opinion program had been unilaterally terminated.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
25/04
Does the honor of a college limit freedom of expression? Recently a minor was sexually abused by the driver of a school bus in the capital of Ecuador, Quito. The case caused a stir in the citizenry and in public opinion as it adds to a wave of abuses of women, femicides and gender violence in the country.
In addition to the seriousness of the case and the debate it opens about the ability of educational institutions to protect the safety and rights of girls and women, this case also opened a debate about the scope of freedom of expression. This, after the school will file a claim for the improper use of its image and name and for the potential damage to honor that the association of this type of news with the educational institution could generate. In principle, freedom of expression is not limited by the honor of a legal person, even if it existed, although there is certainly the possibility of civil actions for extra-patrimonial damages that could be a dissuasive for journalists to adequately cover and completely this kind of news.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION GOOD NAME GENDER VIOLENCE
04/04
The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data, the Mexican Football Federation and Liga MX installed a work table to analyze the issue of Fan ID, a mechanism with which the biometric data of people who intend to attend soccer stadiums in Mexico are recorded.
PERSONAL DETAILS PRIVACY
10/04
Article 19 and Women's Communication and Information issued a statement in which they reject the violence - attempted home invasion - perpetrated against the journalist Ana Dora Cabrera, director of Medio Octupus, of San Luis Potosí, and asked various state and federal authorities to properly investigate the facts and provide protection measures for the journalist.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
12/04
Article 19 again denounced the Judiciary, the Attorney General's Office and the former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Urban Development and the Environment, all of the State of Yucatan, for their acts of harassment against journalists who published information of public interest.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS BULLYING
14/04
Article 19 Reporter Marco Rodríguez, director of EnlaceMx Noticias and collaborator with the newspaper hoytamaulipas in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, denounced the attacks he received the day before. The events occurred in the coverage of an eviction in the neighborhood May 25 in Matamoros.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
25/04
La Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation declared unconstitutional the registration of biometric data in the National Registry of Mobile Telephony Users. The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data recognized this decision because registration is a disproportionate measure to the free exercise of the rights to private life, intimacy, identity and best interests of children.
PERSONAL DETAILS PRIVACY
06/04
Bill "Full internet connectivity in all public educational institutions of the republic”. The bill seeks connectivity in all educational establishments in the country.
INTERNET ACCESS
05/04
Beltrán Macchi, president of the Association of Banks of Paraguay (Asoban), projection that within a State of law and in full democracy, bank secrecy must be respected, "an obligation that exists in all the legislations of the world", this referring to the fact that the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) is in the crosshairs of a political sector of the Senate, which summoned its head, José Cantero, and members of the Board of Directors, to explain about reports of cases protected by the so-called bank secrecy.
The head of the banking union in Paraguay, who also currently serves as president of the Latin American Federation of Banks (Felaban), explained that there are new laws that enshrine the right to data protection. "In Paraguay, the National Congress passed a credit data protection law, and today a personal data protection law is under study." Paraguay, that is perfectly established in the Banking Law for the private sector and in the organic charter of BCP.
PERSONAL DETAILS
07/04
Bill “which strengthens the capacities of the National Securities Commission (CNV) to obtain and exchange information and cooperate with foreign government authorities or agencies that regulate and supervise the securities and derivatives markets”
The National Securities Commission may enter into agreements, memorandums of understanding or cooperation agreements with international organizations or agencies and with government authorities or agencies that regulate and supervise stock markets in other countries, under conditions of reciprocity in accordance with international cooperation standards. and exchange of information.
Within the framework of the agreements, memorandums of understanding or cooperation agreements, the CNV may provide information that by current national laws is of a secret, reserved or confidential nature, as long as this information is required in the framework of an investigation of alleged infractions or crimes that affect the Securities Markets, both nationally and internationally.
PERSONAL DETAILS
18/04
Bill “WHICH AMENDS ARTICLE 216 OF LAW 1.160/1.997 'CRIMINAL CODE'”, The modification of the penal code intends to penalize up to 6 years in prison for road closures, mechanisms normally used as demonstrations and popular claims.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION PENAL CODE
23/04
Cybercrime cases are increasing, parents must control what children consume, they warn. In Paraguay, cases of cybercrime are on the rise and the most vulnerable are children, who today are connected to technology and new social networks as well as messaging services in which they are not mature enough to understand what the dangers are within. of these platforms.
In this sense, the cybersecurity expert Miguel Ángel Gaspar, in communication with the program "TV on Air" of channel Trece, reported that Parents should be aware of what kind of platforms or what services their children are using, since they are channels used by criminals to commit any type of cybercrime.
CYBER CRIMES
06/04
The journalistic team of América Televisión had to protect in a hotel in front of a mob of hooligans who threatened to lynch them. The incident occurred in Ica, a region in the south of the country. The journalists had traveled to cover a carrier strike. The press team reported acts of violence and vandalism by the demonstrators who, with stones and sticks, attacked several private and public facilities, including a police station that was set on fire.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
09/04
The executive power he presented to Congress the bill that proposes to prohibit monopolies and oligopolies. In addition, regarding social communication media, the initiative proposes, in addition to the prohibition of monopolies that already existed in the Constitution, the prohibition of cross-ownership without any distinction. This initiative has been criticized from various sectors, because it would represent a retaliation by Prime Minister Aníbal Torres specifically against some business groups that have a presence in more than one media outlet, as is the case of Grupo El Comercio.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
17/04
President Pedro Castillo sent a notarized letter to the television program Panorama for having indicated in a television report that a supplier of the State would have participated in a recreational soccer match with the head of state. In addition to requesting rectification, the president warned that he would file a complaint with the director of the journalistic program for the crime of defamation, despite the fact that no real malice was noted in the report in question and contrary to inter-American standards that prevent criminal punishment for the case. of expressions about public officials.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION DEFAMATION
21/04
Members of the far-right fan groups La Resistencia, Los Insurgentes and Los Combatientes they arrived again to the exterior of the IDL-Reporteros premises to shout insults and threats against the director of the media outlet, Gustavo Gorriti, and his journalists. Rudy Jordan, part of the IDL-Reporteros team, was attacked by one of the fans while the journalist was recording the events.
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS