Legislation threatens freedom of expression

Expression

According to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) freedom of expression could be undermined by two laws that were recently approved as they limit the exercise of freedom of expression in the context of political campaigns.

The Political Parties, Groups and Movements Act contains provisions that threaten citizens' freedom of expression as it penalises "negatives comments" against candidates published on social media with up to 10 years in prison. 

In addition, the proposal to create an Observatorio Electoral de Redes Sociales (Electoral Observatory of Social Networks) in order to identify "fake news" has aroused criticism as it can be a mechanism to limit or inhibit the free flow of information.