During this period, there were no severe attacks on press freedom. However, the national electoral period, which will culminate on October 27 – or November 24, if a second round is necessary – could cloud the press situation.
In a positive development, President Luis Lacalle Pou vetoed an article in the new Audiovisual Communication Services Law approved by both chambers of Congress. The article posed a severe threat to journalistic activity by interfering with the editorial policies of the media.
Article 72 established that "the broadcasting services regulated by this law have the duty to provide citizens with information, analysis, opinions, comments, and evaluations in a complete, impartial, serious, rigorous, plural, and balanced manner among political actors and concerning them."
It added that this obligation included "all programs and spaces that broadcast analysis, opinions, comments, evaluations, and information of a political nature in the broadest sense of the term, including the content of governmental, parliamentary, legislative, administrative, partisan, legal, academic, and electoral scope."
