The electoral reform prevents the INE from restricting freedom of expression

Andrea Becerril

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday December 18, 2022, p. 5

Among the changes that were made in Congress to the plan B of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in electoral matters, those that prevent the National Electoral Institute (INE) from keep overreaching by unduly restricting freedom of expression, commented the senator of Morena César Cravioto.

He specified that article 160, numeral three, of the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (Legipe) was modified in the Senate, to establish that the INE may not order precautionary measures in the case of publications, videos, audios or digital communications, since through this the organization headed by Lorenzo Córdova has been harassing communicators and journalists.

The INE must turn over to the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) the complaints in which it considers that there is some fault and it will be this body that will resolve and issue a sentence.

The counselors will no longer be able to order that any information be downloaded from Twitter or continue with the persecution of journalists, he explained.

With the change to that article 160 it is established that In electoral matters, the exercise of journalism will be inviolable, it will not be subject to prior limitation, nor precautionary measures by any electoral authority, except in the event that it attacks morality, private life or the rights of third parties, causes a crime, disturbs the public order or constitutes gender political violence.

The morenista stressed that the last part of that article is in the law, the only thing we added, and which is very important, is the issue of precautionary measures that the INE will no longer be able to issue. It is made clear that the authorities of that institute They may only make requests to people, entities or any other figure that exercises journalism, freedom of expression and the right to information in any conventional or digital media for situations or events that occurred during the electoral processes..

Outside of those deadlines, stressed Senator Cravioto, the INE will have no competition. He exposed the case of his fellow bench member Antares Vázquez, who, due to a complaint from the PAN in Guanajuato, was forced by the INE to apologize on her Twitter account for several days, until the TEPJF ruled in her favor.

Article 242

On the other hand, at the proposal of Morena, article 242 of the Legipe was also modified, to clearly define that the anticipated campaign and pre-campaign acts are those carried out under any modality and at any time and in a public or virtual space from the beginning of the electoral process and until before the campaign stage and that expressly directly and explicitly promote voting against or in favor of a candidate or party or request support for them.

By clearly defining what these anticipated campaign acts are, legal certainty is given to all the actors that participate in the electoral process and stop the political persecutions and witch hunts that the INE has undertakencommented in turn Senator Lucía Meza.

The INE has taken advantage of the ambiguity and gaps that exist in the Legipe to try to silence and silence political actors from Morena, he stressed.

With the new norm, you will no longer be able to require the head of government to prevent messages of support in your favor on the Internet, nor penalize us for expressing support for the President of the Republicadded Senator Cravioto.

The changes to the two articles were endorsed by both chambers and we will only have to wait until February for the Senate to discuss and approve the reforms contained in the so-called plan B of the federal Executive, so that they are promulgated and enter into force, he stressed.