President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered legislators to halt the approval of the new Telecommunications Law and modify—or permanently remove from the bill—the controversial article that established the possibility for the government to “block” digital platforms, which sparked controversy between the opposition and the owners of major media outlets. The president reiterated that her administration does not intend to censor freedom of expression and has asked the Senate, where the proposal is being debated, to open a period for further analysis, which contrasts with the initial urgency with which the ruling party sought to approve the law. “That article must be clarified so that we don’t give the opposition or anyone else any argument that what we want is to censor a digital platform like Facebook, YouTube, etc.,” she stated in her morning press conference.
The article of contention states that, at the request of “the competent authorities,” the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency (ATDT) may “temporarily block” a digital platform “in cases where it is appropriate due to non-compliance with the provisions or obligations set forth in the respective regulations applicable to them.” The document does not detail what situations will warrant a block or which platforms are being referred to, but critics have pointed out that this category includes social media, streaming platforms—from YouTube to Netflix—and messaging services—such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
Another source of controversy is the amount of fines that will be charged to radio and television owners who broadcast propaganda from foreign governments, a measure that was incorporated into the law after Televisa, one of the most powerful broadcasters, aired spots from the anti-immigrant campaign of Donald Trump, President of the United States, on its most-watched programs. The opposition and media companies, such as TV Azteca, owned by magnate Ricardo Salinas Pliego, have called Sheinbaum’s government authoritarian and compared it to regimes that have limited freedom of expression.
The president has responded to the criticism. “We have always been against censorship, so that particular article must be modified to be clear, or eliminated,” she stated. “That is not the purpose of the law. If it creates confusion and people think it’s meant to censor, that has never been the purpose. In any case, the article should be removed, the wording modified, so that it is absolutely clear that the Mexican government will not censor anyone, much less anything published on digital platforms, regarding that article that has caused a tremendous scandal,” she added.
Sheinbaum has acknowledged that within the government itself, doubts have arisen regarding the new powers of the powerful Digital Agency, which will exercise control over the radio spectrum and will be responsible for the allocation of concessions and their use by companies. “Let the experts who helped draft this law go [to the Senate] to explain why the restoration of powers for the Mexican State is essential and open the discussion; it’s not about imposing anything,” she reiterated. Sheinbaum has indicated that the initiative could be approved in an extraordinary session, following the conclusion of the ordinary session, on April 30.
Source: elpais
