President Rafael Correa approved Communications Law

The President did not veto the law, so its publication in the Official Gazette is the only thing pending  to enter into force.

The President said that he did not make any observations because the National Assembly did a good job. It was announced yesterday during the broadcast citizen, recorded in San Jose de Minas, 80 kilometers from Quito, in the midst of a celebration of the attendees.

Correa reiterated that the regulation  ratifies the communication as a right and denied that the purpose is for The  State to take control of The media. He noted that preemptive censorship is prohibited and that now the press  cannot advertise things that can affect health.

The law creates concern to the major national and international media. Several organizations have warned of the risks of the new ruling, as Mary O’Grady, of the Board of the Wall Street Journal  and editor of ‘The Americas’ column, who commented that “what happens when the Government tries to control the media is that they try to control the debate of ideas in public (…).”

La Tercera de Chile newspaper also exposed its concern in its edition of last Wednesday, in the editorial ‘Severe risks of the new communications law in Ecuador’ that indicated that the law “surrenders to the State wide spaces to intervene in the informative process…”.