Civil society calls for transparency in regulating the Media Law

Expression

As previously reported on the Monitor, civil society organisations continue to petition the government for the proper regulation of the Audiovisual Communication Services Act, also known as the Media Law, which was passed in 2014. Recently, Coalición por una Comunicación Democrática (Coalition for a Democratic Communication) expressed concern over a draft regulation presented by the government. According to the Coalition, a draft of the regulation was presented on 5th October but then weeks later, the government claimed that draft was not the official one. The Coalition has called for more transparency, demanding that "[the government] act with the seriousness and commitment that social participation mechanisms required".

In a separate incident, on 10th November the government of the department of Maldonado filed a legal procedure, calling for the Law on Access to Public Information to be declared unconstitutional. This action occurred as two town councilors affiliated with the opposition party submitted 17 requests for access to information that were rejected by the local government. CAinfo has spoken out and warned about the potential consequences of the government of Maldonado attempting to undermine the public's access to information.