The press freedom situation has been marked by regulatory uncertainties, institutional tensions, and new legislative initiatives that reflect threats and advances in independent journalism.
The press freedom situation has been marked by regulatory uncertainties, institutional tensions, and new legislative initiatives that reflect threats and advances in independent journalism.
The reform of Law 6132 on Expression and Dissemination of Thought, which has been in force since 1962, continues to be stalled. Although the draft bill was prepared by a special commission two years ago, it remains under study by the Legal Consultancy of the Executive Branch. President Luis Abinader said he would submit the bill to the National Congress in March. The delay is evidence of a lack of political will or internal divergences on the scope of the reform.
In the meantime, worrying parallel proposals have emerged from Congress. The pro-government deputies Bolívar Valera and Amado Díaz independently submitted initiatives to regulate digital media, content creators, influencers, and digital platforms.
In March, in a case that revives the debate on the balance between the right to honor and freedom of expression, the president of the Senate, Ricardo de los Santos, advocated legislation that establishes "clear consequences" against defamation following public denunciations of journalists who were accused, without evidence, of acting as paid agents of the closed United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In November 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice approved a new data protection policy rejected by the Dominican Society of Newspapers (SDD), considering that it limited the press's access to public judicial information. The criticism focused on the excessive discretion of judges to classify information as confidential, which would affect the transparency of judicial processes and the exercise of investigative journalism. Given the impasse, a joint commission was created between the SCJ and the SDD to reformulate the document. The agreed text is expected to be submitted to the Plenary of the high court before the end of the first four months of this year.
In December 2024, the Constitutional Court declared Law 1-24 unconstitutional, which created the National Intelligence Department (DNI) for violating constitutional principles. This law, repudiated by media, jurists, and human rights organizations, granted disproportionate powers to State intelligence agents, such as confiscating data and summoning interrogations without prior judicial order. A new bill is expected, but one that respects the corresponding legislative procedure.
The lack of compliance with the General Law of Free Access to Public Information on the part of numerous state agencies that refuse to provide information to the media or delay it unjustifiably continued during this period. Diario Libre denounced the refusal of the Dominican Port Authority to provide information on the lease of the Naval Shipyards. Listín Diario demanded that the Empresa Distribuidora de Electricidad del Este (EDEESTE) deliver the delinquent clients with debts accumulated for years without a satisfactory answer.
