Laws and Regulations

LAWS AND REGULATIONS WHEREAS in Argentina the legislature is considering two bilis, one of which would prohibit the publication of sworn statements by public officials of their financial worth and the other to impose large fines on anyone reporting on court cases involving minors in Costa Rica the legislature is considering a bill that would prohibit the publication of public opinion poll results within two days of an election in Paraguay the legislature is considering a bill to restrict advertising of tobacco and alcoholic beverages in Peru the mayor of Lince issued an ordinance prohibiting news kiosks from displaying publications with nudes, semi-nudes, sex acts or violence portrayed on their covers in the United States the president has signed a law that attempts to regulate obscenity on the Internet, which a federal court promptly declared invalid in Panama laws and regulations on freedom of the press and access to information dating from the era of dictatorship remain in effect THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to call on the legislatures and government officials in the hemisphere that maintain laws or are considering new ways to restrict free expression to concentrate instead on removing from the statute books the remnants of repressive, authoritarian regimes.