The Council of Ministers has approved the reform of the law that regulates the right of rectification, which has just turned 20 years old, so that it more effectively covers influencers and their internet profiles with hundreds of thousands of followers. The project explains that “more than forty years” have passed since the enactment of the original law and that the “changes” in the media “have been extremely profound” and deserve a legal change.
In the press conference after the Council of Ministers, the head of the Justice portfolio Félix Bolaños explained that “40 years ago the information ecosystem and the way to rectify it had nothing to do with those used today.” “It is essential to modernize the right to rectification and be aware of the impact that hoaxes and fake news are having in public debate in all democracies,” he explained.
The Minister of Justice has explained that this will allow the right to rectification to be exercised against ‘influencers’ with more than 100,000 followers on a social network or more than 200,000 among all their profiles, who have “more diffusion than many media outlets. “There are professionals of hoaxes and lies, and the right to rectification may also be exercised against them.”
Following the reform announced this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, this law will include, in addition to the media, “specially relevant users of online platforms and equivalent services.” The period to claim these rectifications, in addition, is extended from seven to ten calendar days “to facilitate its exercise” and the rectification letters must reach directly the ‘influencer’ or whoever “exercises effective control over the selection of the content or the information”, not necessarily to the director.
To facilitate this, the law requires platforms to have “an easily visible and accessible mechanism” that allows the applicant “to have a tool that ensures the direct and immediate submission of the rectification, as well as the record of receipt and processing.” process monitoring” even if it is not registered.
On several occasions the courts, through civil proceedings, have condemned to influencers and youtubers to compensate people affected by their insults or false information. This reform affects what is known as the right of rectification, which allows any person to contact a media outlet to, in practice, force the publication of their version of the facts if they consider that published information is incorrect or incomplete.
The new rule, Bolaños explained, “introduces adjustments to expedite the right of rectification for citizens who are affected by false news. “We adapt to the current reality and expressly regulate digital environments.”
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