Overview
- The Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones published the Lineamientos Generales para la Protección de los Derechos de las Audiencias in the Diario Oficial after a unanimous CRT vote on August 26, and the rules take effect 30 days after publication.
- The final text drops the draft ban on diffusing “false or decontextualized” information and replaces it with Article 12, which requires concessionaires to preserve plurality and veracity according to their own editorial codes of ethics.
- The Lineamientos establish defensorías de audiencias to receive and resolve complaints with a seven‑day filing window and a 20‑day target for resolutions, and empower those offices to issue public recommendations to broadcasters.
- The CRT keeps supervisory powers under Article 52, including monitoring and requirements to verify compliance, but says it will act mainly at the request of audiences or defensorías rather than reviewing editorial truth directly.
- Critics note the public consultation received 8,889 participations and say the CRT moved quickly from the August 21 consultation close to approval two business days later, raising concerns that audience complaints could be used as a route to indirect censorship and that government communications may not face the same scrutiny.