Politicians 'Cave' to Mexican Internet Activists, But Was It a Ruse? Jessica McKenzie - techPresident
go to original May 4, 2014

President Barack Obama and President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico share a toast (Wikipedia)

Last week activists in Mexico drew the world's attention to a bill proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto that would do away with net neutrality and user privacy measures, among other changes. The protest hashtag #EPNvsInternet (Enrique Peña Nieto vs the Internet) drew nearly a million tweets and became a global trending topic. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets to protest the bill on April 22 in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. The media reported that Mexico's governing party immediately backed away from the proposed legislation, with promises to change the problematic clauses before the vote, which has been postponed until June. However, activists behind #EPNvsInternet worry that the party will try to pass the bill with little to no changes during the Football World Cup, when the attention of their citizens is elsewhere.

Peña Nieto's proposed bill would authorize the state to block communications for national security reasons or public safety, increase state control over telecommunications and media outlets, and permit real-time surveillance of people's movements without a warrant.

“The only thing we can do is to show the world what's happening,” says Primavera Tellez-Giron, member of the Mexican Association of the Right to Information (AMEDI).

In a phone call with techPresident, Tellez-Giron explained that the President's bill threatens more than just Internet rights. It would also strip community radio stations—which often serve indigenous or very poor rural communities—of funding, forcing them to appeal to their listeners.

Tellez-Giron says another bill, proposed by right wing Senator Javier Lozano Alarcón (and the Senate President of the Comission of Communications and Transport), is even worse. It would prohibit community radio stations from using advertisements to raise money.

Lozano Alarcón is also the one who presented the revised version of the President's bill, but other members of Congress have said they were excluded from the discussion of revisions, and they have accused Lozano Alarcón of violating parliamentary procedure.

Read the rest at techPresident

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