Miami (March 26, 2014)—A fine by the government of Ecuador levied on the newspaper Extra was condemned today by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), which stated that it was an “action that poses a threat to the stability of the privately-owned company and freedom of the press, with the aim of preventing the watchdog role of the news media and public opinion.”
On Monday (March 24) the Information and Communication Superintendence (Supercom), set up in October last year under terms of the Organic Communication Law – known as the “gag law” – ordered Extra to pay 10% of its average invoicing over the past three months, after accusing it of violating Article 3 of the Code of Ethics (imposed by the law) which orders “avoidance of gruesome treatment” of information.
Supercom reprimanded the newspaper over some headlines published last December for “incoherence and inconsistency with the content of the news item” and requested a rectification, which Extra declined to provide because it alleged that the content was in line with the truth.
The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, declared, “This fine based on subjective criteria by a body and a law that go against freedom of the press, beyond being disproportionate, is one more piece of evidence that the government of Rafael Correa has created these mechanisms in order to mould the privately-owned media with the objective of there being no oversight or criticism by the public of its governance.”
The fine imposed on Extra is equivalent to 10% of the average monthly invoicing. Under the law repetition of the alleged fault brings with it a 20% fine and would continue to be doubled successively. The law does not specify any limit to the level of fines.
“Without a doubt,” added Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, “we have before us a law that enables financial punishments to reduce the operational capacity of privately-owned media, with the aggravating consequences that this has for press freedom and democracy.”
Since its establishment Supercom has imposed dozens of fines and given warnings, censoring and creating self-censorship in the news media.
The report on Ecuador, with the stipulations of the Communication Law and Supercom, will have special consideration during the IAPA’s Midyear Meeting to be held April 4-7 in Barbados.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.