Overview
- The Comisión de Justicia approved the draft by 23 votes to 10 on Tuesday, October 20, and forwarded the unchanged minuta 23–10 to the Mesa Directiva for a full Chamber of Deputies debate.
- The reform adds a new Article 402 Bis to the Federal Penal Code that punishes, with one to five years in prison and fines of 1,000–10,000 UMA, the commercial use, reproduction or imitation of institutional graphic identity when meant to induce error or commit an illicit.
- Opposition deputies pressed for an explicit exclusion for parody, memes, cartoons and journalistic uses but the majority refused to amend the text, warning the law’s wording is ambiguous enough to risk criminalizing satire.
- Lawmakers from the ruling bloc said the change aims to prevent official-identity fraud and protect industrial property rights, and they cited alignment with international commitments as part of their defense.
- If the full Chamber approves the measure it must still be ratified by the Senate, and courts will likely decide how to apply the key phrases “a escala comercial” and “intention to induce error,” with real effects on creators, journalists and fraud prevention efforts.