IAPA urges caution in regulating on social media in Honduras

MIAMI, Florida:

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has asked the Congress of Honduras to be cautious and not restrict freedom of expression with a new legislative bill that would regulate the content of social media, saying that special laws are not needed to regulate on offences that could be committed on the Internet when such offences are already covered in the general regulations.

In a release, the IAPA stressed that the legislators should take into account a large number of considerations that have been made by various rapporteurs on freedom of the press and information within the Inter-American Human Rights System of the Organization of American States and the United Nations, so laws are not enacted that stifle the new spaces of people's freedoms.

A bill has been under discussion in the Honduras Congress since last week a bill for a NationalLaw on Cybersecurity and Means of Protection Against Acts of Hatred and Discrimination on the Internet and Social Media. The bill has given rise to controversy in various sectors of the country.