Mexico Regulator Publishes Audience-Protection Rules While Preserving Editorial Independence

Overview

• The CRT published the Lineamientos Generales para la Protección de los Derechos de las Audiencias in the Diario Oficial de la Federación in late August, and the rules begin a 30-day countdown to take effect at the end of September.
• Radio and TV concessionaires must appoint and register a persona defensora de las audiencias who has experience in communications, law, broadcasting or telecoms and who did not work for the outlet in the prior two years.
• The persona defensora must follow strict deadlines: five days to request an internal report from the concessionaire, five days for the concessionaire to supply that report, and three days to notify the complainant of the determination, with complainants able to ask the CRT to intervene if unresolved.
• Broadcasters must adopt mandatory codes of ethics and label content (news, opinion, advertising), file semiannual public and CRT reports, and face fines from 0.01% to 1% of revenues for covered infractions with chances to avoid penalties if omissions are remedied early.
• Academics and industry groups warn the Lineamientos omit an explicit fact‑verification requirement and that broad supervisory powers for the persona defensora and the CRT could create uncertainty about how far oversight will affect editorial choices.