Overview
- The Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones approved a revised set of Lineamientos Generales para la Protección de los Derechos de las Audiencias and published them in the Diario Oficial, with the rules set to take effect 30 days after publication.
- The final text removed the disputed language that would have required broadcasters to avoid publishing “false or decontextualized” information, and the CRT said it will not decide whether news is true or false.
- The rules set clear complaint processes by giving audiences seven days to file an inconformity and requiring a defensoría to respond within 20 days, while limiting sanctions to those already established in the Ley en Materia de Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión.
- Critics and civil-society groups fault the speed of the consultation and the handling of participation counts, warning that complaint-driven procedures and CRT monitoring powers could be used indirectly to pressure media or be applied unevenly compared with government communications.
- Broadcasters must adopt codes of ethics, appoint audience defenders and add visible labels to distinguish news, opinion and advertising, and the CRT is charged with promoting awareness of audience rights and supervising compliance, a change that will shape how ordinary viewers can raise disputes and expect responses.