A proposal that critics say will limit freedom of expression is a law being pitched by Cabinet Minister Diosdado Cabello that would channel all Internet communication through servers controlled by the state telecommunications company, CANTV.
Atty. Gen. Luisa Ortega Diaz will present to the National Assembly soon that would create a new category of “media crime” punishing those who broadcast or print opinion instead of fact.
“What I wonder is, who will define the crime and based on what criteria?” said Marcelino Bisbal, a professor at Central University of Venezuela and editor of Communication magazine. “The arbitrary way such a law could be applied is very worrisome.”
Cabello has said the law would enable the government to suspend all telecommunications for security reasons in times of national emergency. But Bisbal and Keller believe it’s designed to control social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as rallying points for the opposition.
The government is also going after cable programmers, who are grabbing an increasing share of the Venezuelan audience, Bisbal said.
To control the networks, Chavez is proposing to require the cable networks to run an hour of government programming per day.
That is how you take control of the media and prevent a possible ‘revolution’ down the road. Smart move if I say so, even though I hate the fact that he’s controlling the country to such an extent.
He has very smartly re-written the entire constitution(?) to fit his needs and he controls the National Assembly, so it is really not hard for him to make these proposed ideas into laws.
Its been years10+ years since he democratically got elected into power, and then he ‘democratically’ won another election, and then there was a revolution, then there was a coup, then ‘democratically’ got put back in power, and ‘democratically’ has taken control of the entire damn country.
But he still only supported by only 50-55% of the people. His last push for reform got denied by the opposition (the first time young people have gotten involved in such mass scale). He is trying to avoid a situation like Iran’s. Cut access to social networking sites that allow people to rally together, jail anyone who says an ‘opinion’, and in 20 years down the road, we would effectively have turned into a North Korea / Cuba like state, and nobody freaking noticed.
I’m glad I don’t live there anymore. Sadly, my entire family does.
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