No major incidents affecting press freedom have been reported in the last six months. Yet, the media must endure a variety of threats from bills presented by parliamentarians or the government.
Among the legislative initiatives, four stand out: One creates a Personal Data Protection Agency that regulates the protection and handling of such data, including those owned by the media.
Another bill modifies the law on Freedom of Opinion and Information and Practice of Journalism or "Press Law", which would restrict the use of images of underage people without parental consent - making no distinctions on the type of material or its use.
Another initiative proposes reforms to the Consumer Rights Protection Act in order to penalize the promotion of negative stereotypes of women in advertising messages. Advertisers and the media would be penalized for advertisements that present or promote such stereotypes.
Another bill stipulates women's right to a violence-free life. It establishes that the authorities should determine how the media should comply with the promotion of this right.
Several additional risks affect the sustainability of the media, including the appropriation or use of content by technological intermediaries without authorization or payment of royalties. The same occurs with press agencies that offer news-gathering services for profit - often without citing sources.
The right to be forgotten is an issue of continuing concern - due to the lack of clear rules. Usually - via a protection appeal, it is requested that the media remove old news or that the news be updated on the media's websites or even on Google's search engines, among others.
In Venezuela, press teams from Chilean national media have suffered arbitrary arrests, interrogations and deportation. Both the Communications Media Federation and the National Press Association have rejected these attacks.
Last year, the National Press Association launched a campaign against fake news and disinformation, generated by reckless media outlets that don't exercise the levels of self-regulation that serious media adhere to.
Several magazines have ceased to circulate due to poor economic performance. This phenomenon has deepened the debate on the importance of paper versus the use of digital products. CEOs or presidents of advertising companies emphasize the importance of paper for journalistic work, but their younger teams don't value paper as much, leaning only towards advertising on digital media.
