On Monday, December 20th, the Venezuelan Parliament passed the bill that gives the Executive the power to regulate all content accessible in Internet within Venezuela. Through an administrative organ, CONATEL, all venezuelan-based ISPs will have the responsibility to block all content that collides with article 28 and 29:
- Inciten y promuevan el odio y la intolerancia por razones religiosas, políticas, por diferencia de género, por racismo o xenofobia.
- Inciten o promuevan y/o hagan apología al delito.
- Constituyan propaganda de Guerra.
- Fomenten zozobra en la ciudadanía o alteren el orden público.
- Desconozcan a las autoridades legítimamente constituidas.
- Induzcan al homicidio.
- Inciten o promuevan el incumplimiento del ordenamiento jurídico vigente.
- Promuevan, hagan apología o inciten a alteraciones del orden público
- Utilicen el anonimato.
- Desconozcan las autoridades legítimamente constituidas.
According to congress members, the law will regulate all content, including text, images, sound and video, that might collide with the above mentioned provisions. Through an administrative procedure, those ISPs that are considered to break the law will be sanctioned with high fines.
This very morning, the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, stated through his twitter account that he just had enacted the law. The law will take effect the day following its publication in the Official Gazette.
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