Decree Law 35: Cuba and Free Expression, without Fake News or Violence

Decree Law 35: Cuba and Free Expression, without Fake News or Violence
Fecha de publicación: 
26 August 2021
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Decree-Law 35 regulates telecommunications in Cuba, banning the spreading of fake news and incitement to violence, but does not prevent freedom of expression on Internet, a specialist emphasized today.

Speaking to Prensa Latina, constitutional law professor Yuliesky Amador explained that the objective of the new regulation has been misrepresented by the same people who use social networks for subversion campaigns against the island's government.

'This Decree-Law was born from the legislative schedule foresaw for Cuba after the approval of the Constitution of the Republic in 2019 and is not the result of the uncertainty of people or ministries, nor it’s related to the recent riots of the past July 11th, he emphasized.

In the expert's opinion, the text published in the Official Gazette last week does not ban publications or interactions on social networks, "it limits on content that, due to its offensive nature, violates the Cuban State and citizens."

'Matters that are already included from article 45 of the Magna Carta, which makes it explicit that the exercise of people is only limited by collective security, the rights of others, by respect for public order and the laws', he said.

According to Amador, this legislation does not contradict section 54 of the Constitution, which addresses freedom of thought, expression, and awareness, "nor with Decree-Law 370 on the computerization of society."

'Each sovereign country can regulate these issues. France since 2018 has a law against the manipulation of information; Brazil in 2020 approved one on freedom, responsibility and transparency on internet. '

In addition, Argentina has the Observatory of Information and symbolic surveillance in digital media platforms; while the United States since 2001 keeps the Center for Global Engagement of the State Department, 'he commented.

The expert assures that Cuba took into account the best experiences of each of these regulations, as well as the principles of international law.

''Decree-Law 35 protects the interests of citizens, promotes, and facilitates the use of telecommunications to improve the living conditions of the population, seeks to bring all these services even closer and raise cybersecurity so that domestic order is not violated, 'he said.

For Amador, this regulation strengthens sovereignty in the use of radio electronic space in the national territory, which is also included in article 11 of the Constitution.

'The promoters of subversive campaigns are upset because this decree prevents the transmission of fake news, incitement to violence, prohibits actions that violate public morality, even avoids harassment and in a general sense, everything that affects integrity and honor of an individual, 'said the member of the Cuban Society of Law and Information Technology.

According to specialists and official sources, Cuba increasingly promotes Internet access throughout the country, but rejects the use that some make of this space to misinform, incite hatred, and violence.

On different occasions, the country's authorities denounced that the United States Government uses digital platforms as an instrument for an unconventional war against the Caribbean nation.

Recently information monopolies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter violated their own regulations and allowed aggressive messages and calls to commit crimes on their platforms.

On the other hand, several government institutions received cyberattacks, the site of the Presidency among them, and media such as Granma and Cubadebate.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff

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