“The little miners” and the imbeciles

One of Umberto Eco’s quotes has become a prophecy that is fulfilled before our eyes every day: “Social media gives the right to speak to legions of idiots who used to speak only in a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Back then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the imbeciles.”
We read so many outrageous things on social media that we have normalized them. However, despite the daily accumulation of rubbish, we still distinguish between plain stupidity and the commission of a crime, and what the individual who insulted the dance of “Los Mineritos” did was precisely that.
It’s obvious that what this guy was looking for was to increase the views of his videos and get enough reactions to monetize them, since that’s how the social media business works. He got it, and he got such notoriety that now many people know who he is, which is why I refuse to mention his name.
What this character did was to express himself in derogatory terms about the dance in question. He not only insulted and abused, but also displayed clear acts of contempt, such as spitting in disgust.
Yes. Freedom of expression is guaranteed in Article 106 of the Political Constitution of the State, but it must be understood that, although it allows Bolivian citizens to freely express opinions, when an opinion is expressed in the form of insult, denigration, injury, offense, affront, defamation, slander and/or libel, it becomes a crime against honor, classified in Title IX of the Bolivian Penal Code. The opinions of the “tiktoker” from El Alto incurred all of these qualifications and, in addition, fall within the crime of discrimination, established as such in section a) of article 5 of Law 045.
Regarding discrimination, Article 281 ter of the Penal Code states that “any person who arbitrarily and illegally obstructs, restricts, undermines, prevents or annuls the exercise of individual and collective rights, for reasons of (…) regional origin, physical appearance and clothing, will be punished with imprisonment of one to five years.”
Since the matter is so clear, there is no need to comment on the mistakes made by this citizen, which justify calling his opinions on the miners complete nonsense. Talking about the role of mining in the history of Bolivia would require several volumes, but, in the case of the imbeciles who use social media for nonsense, publishing them would be a waste of time, because it is clear that they do not read.
We just have to remember, now and forever, that yes, we have the right to free expression, but our rights end where the rights of others begin.