VENEZUELA: Students clash with police as President Hugo Chavez attempts to extend his power over information on the internet

Record ID: 643948

  • Title: VENEZUELA: Students clash with police as President Hugo Chavez attempts to extend his power over information on the internet
  • Date: 16th December 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS FROM THE INTERNET SITE 'NOTICIAS 24' (NEWS 24) WORKING VARIOUS OF FRANK DE PRADA, DIRECTOR OF NOTICIAS 24
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA22PHZ3XLPTAHPCFVDJGQDMTSV
  • Story Text: Students clashed with police and pro-Chavez groups in Caracas on Wednesday (December 15) over a proposed law which will regulate what can be published on the internet.
    The law - which has been backed by President Hugo Chavez and is a reform of a law that previously only applied to television and radio - was discussed by members of the National Assembly the previous day, with critics saying it will damage freedom of speech.
    Earle Herrera, a member of parliament representing Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela, defended the proposal.
    "It will apply to the internet because in the same way new technologies advance the laws are changing too. This law, which was limited to the radio and television, is being extended to electronic mediums. It will not at all restrict access to the Internet or the use of this technology," said Herrera.
    The move has been compared to censorship measures in China and Cuba.
    Frank De Prada, director of news site Noticias 24, said the law would leave publishers amid a lot of uncertainty of what was and wasn't allowed.
    "The modifications to the law prohibit lots of things, including really absurd things they say go against good customs, without specifying how you are going to know what are good customs, why and for whom. It also prohibits showing text or images of violence; it prohibits showing naked people if there is no educational purpose. We are in the 21st century. It prohibits a wide number of acts which are not specific enough for a director or editor of a publication to know what can or can't be published. They are such vague and unspecified concepts of what makes a good custom. According to the law, it stays at the discretion of the administration. Imagine. What are we going to publish?" said De Prada.
    The law would prohibit content that "attacks good customs", "disrespects" public officials or incites violence against the president.
    De Prada said he felt the government would also suffer from the reform.
    "If Chavez's worst enemy were to have recommended a law to him, I think it would be this one. It puts us, without doubt, on the same level as Cuba, China or Iran in terms of freedom of the Internet. I think it is a serious error by the government and it is not going to have any benefit," said De Prada.
    Meanwhile, the Chavez government says it is the victim of a Washington-backed propaganda war and is simply introducing regulations that are normal elsewhere.
    Cilia Flores, the National Assembly president, spoke on the parliamentary discussions.
    "The members of the assembly who are in agreement with adopting, in the first discussion, the law which reforms the laws of social responsibility of radio and television, and electronic media, they will serve to indicate the approved custom," said Flores.
    Outside Congress, students gathered to voice their opposition to the bill.
    In recent months, authorities have prosecuted several people for their comments on social networks and even text messages allegedly threatening the government, but this will the first official law that will affect social networks.
    The law places responsibility for the content, including user comments, not only the sites but also on internet providers.
    The reforms also propose a single access point through which to channel Venezuela's Internet traffic. The government says that will improve network efficiency, but there is fear it will make censorship easier.
    Some are suggesting that Chavez is using the recent floods - which left more than 120,000 people homeless - to fast-track bills to keep himself in power.
    Miguel Pizarro, a member of the National Assembly, voiced his concerns.
    "We only ask to be incorporated in the discussion and that the tragedy of the flooding and the tragedy of the people is not abused and used as blackmail to give him more power for a political trend within the country," said Pizarro.
    Outside Congress, Chavez supporters threw rocks at the students in an attempt to disperse the protest.
    Critics say the reform would make it easier for the government to pull the plug on websites that criticise public officials.
    There is also concern for the opposition TV station Globovision, which Chavez has long threatened with closure and in a separate reform could find its broadcasts largely limited to two cities.
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