He Council of State recently issued a ruling that imposes clear limits on presidential addresses and councils of ministers broadcast on televisionestablishing greater control over these official interventions.
The ruling indicates that each intervention by the president (whether through public, private, regional or community channels) must obey a “justification or sufficient reason”, which implies that they could only be carried out in situations classified as “urgent”.
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Likewise, it is prohibited that these speeches be repeated frequently at short intervals (for example, within the same week).
President Petro’s speech
Regarding the content and duration, the ruling requires that the request for transmission to the Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) be thematic and specific, avoiding generic references to the issue to be discussed.
Furthermore, the President must clearly indicate the start and end time of his intervention, and may not request a time “notoriously excessive”.
New tasks for the Communications Commission
The CRC acquires direct responsibilities in this new framework: when the transfer request is submitted, it must verify that these criteria are met. If they do not do so, it will be obliged to prevent the speech and make the decision public..
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After each presidential intervention, the CRC must issue a public report in a medium easily accessible to citizens, evaluating whether the speech adjusted to the established parameters of urgency and exceptionality.
Furthermore, the ruling orders that before December 31, 2025, the CRC adopts a regulatory framework to ensure information pluralism on all television channels (public, private, regional and community), incorporating prior, concomitant and subsequent controls in accordance with the guidelines of the ruling.
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