The left-wing coalition argued that the legislation hits Antel with monopolistic, foreign-oriented and anti-competitive provisions. It also attacked Article 72.
He Broad Front issued a statement rejecting the Audiovisual Communication Services Actbetter known as media lawthat the Chamber of Deputies The law was approved in the early hours of Thursday in an extraordinary session. The left-wing coalition said that the legislation “generates greater concentration of media ownership; foreign ownership is enabled; it hits the Antel; and the current situation of privileges is crystallized by automatically extending the duration of current licenses for another 15 years.”
He Broad Front He spoke out against the new media law because of the conditions that the modifications will generate in the communications sector, mainly in terms of competence in the sector, but also in terms of the freedom of expression and Press release based on what they described as a “prior censorship mechanism” in Article 72.
In this regard, the left-wing coalition – which voted against the amendments approved in the Senate- He listed the different organizations that have expressed themselves against the addition promoted by Town Hall Open in search of political “impartiality”. Among them, the Human Rights Commission of the UN and the Unesco; the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR; the Inter-American Press Association; the cloister of the Faculty of Information and Communication of the University of the Republic; and the PIT-CNT.
The opposition also pointed out that the modifications “responded to a treatment without discussion, with a serious and urgent character without the wording being known at the time of voting” – based on what they understand as a response to the claim of the business sectors linked to the media—, which “constitutes a precedent of parliamentary practices serious and dangerous for democracy.”
Criticisms from the Broad Front
Among the reasons for rejection set out in the statement, the Broad Front He mentioned “the setback in the democratization of the media system” that the new law implies, as it eliminates the institutional instances of social participation in the licensing awards“returning to an almost absolute discretion of the Executive Power in its granting”; and the elimination of the obligation to pay the annual fee to the large media, intended for National Audiovisual Production Promotion Fund.
“On the other hand, the Privatization of Internet data transmission “It hits Antel. At the same time that large companies are allowed to compete with the public company by selling internet, Articles 13 and 73 limit Antel’s ability to compete with them, prohibiting it from accessing licenses to market audiovisual content both in partnerships with private companies and in the public system,” the text added.
Finally, he pointed out that “the new media law contradicts article 229 of the Constitution, which expressly prohibits the creation of public offices in the 12 months prior to elections”; for which reason he stated that “it is an initiative with unconstitutional elements” not only in the discussion process, but also in terms of its content itself.
Source: Ambito
