Introduction to the Controversial Audience Rights in Mexico’s New Law
One of the most contentious aspects of Mexico’s new Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law revolves around the so-called audience rights, which essentially impose restrictions on audiovisual content transmitted through television. While these rights appear to benefit audiences, they have been criticized for undermining freedom of expression, leading to accusations of censorship against the new law.
The Debate on Content Regulation: A Longstanding Issue
Although the term “audience rights” may sound innovative and appealing, the debate on content regulation is not new. It has been extensively analyzed internationally for decades, with one widely accepted solution being the model of self-regulation. This approach avoids direct government regulation to prevent censorship, while still requiring media outlets to create and enforce their own rules.
Mexico’s Implementation of Self-Regulation
Under this rationale, Mexico introduced the figure of an audience ombudsperson in 2014. Television networks were obligated to appoint an independent individual responsible for receiving and addressing audience complaints, who could issue recommendations to the network.
New Law Imposes Additional Restrictions on Audience Ombudsperson
The ruling party in the new legislation revisited the audience ombudsperson figure but imposed greater restrictions. The text from Article 259 of the 2014 law, which allowed concessionaires to jointly designate their respective ombudspersons or through representation organizations, was removed. Moreover, the new law mandated that the audience ombudsperson’s integration and operation must adhere to gender equality principles.
Unclear Intentions and Implementation
The rationale behind these two changes, as well as their implementation methods, remains unclear. If the 4T aims for each concessionaire to appoint their own individual ombudsperson, it becomes impossible to uphold gender equality since unique positions cannot fulfill gender quotas.
Expanded Powers of the New Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
Furthermore, Morena added to the new Telecommunications Regulatory Commission’s (CRT) powers the ability to sanction non-compliance with audience rights and order precautionary suspension of transmissions violating related norms (fractions LI and LIII of Article 10). In essence, the authority can verify, sanction, and suspend transmissions deemed to violate audience rights, regardless of whether an audience ombudsperson was involved.
Simulated Self-Regulation and Chilling Effect on Free Speech
In this context, the audience ombudsperson role becomes a mere simulation of self-regulation since the authority will ultimately have direct and unconditional power to sanction and suspend content transmission. Meanwhile, audience ombudspersons only add an increasingly confusing regulatory burden for concessionaires.
Conclusion: The New Law’s Impact on Free Speech
Despite attempts to strengthen the marketing of audience rights, the new law has significantly distorted the self-regulation model while reinforcing state control over audiovisual content. Instead of fostering self-regulation, the media are experiencing an intimidating or chilling effect on free speech.
Key Questions and Answers
- What are audience rights in Mexico’s new Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law? Audience rights impose restrictions on audiovisual content transmitted through television, aiming to protect viewers but criticized for undermining freedom of expression.
- What is the self-regulation model? The self-regulation model avoids direct government regulation of content to prevent censorship, requiring media outlets to create and enforce their own rules.
- How has Mexico implemented self-regulation? Mexico introduced the audience ombudsperson figure in 2014, obliging television networks to appoint an independent individual responsible for addressing audience complaints.
- What changes did the new law impose on audience ombudspersons? The new law added restrictions, such as mandating gender equality in ombudsperson integration and operation, while unclearly defining their implementation.
- What powers did the new Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) gain? The CRT gained the ability to sanction non-compliance with audience rights and order precautionary suspension of violating transmissions.
- How does the new law affect free speech? The new law has distorted self-regulation, reinforced state control over audiovisual content, and created a chilling effect on free speech.
