Politics

When asked about a likely law to regulate the Internet, Manuel Villalba (state of Monagas for ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela), the President of the Committee on Media, National Assembly, on Tuesday, replied: "it is possible; other countries have passed legislations and regulations on this issue."

"If we are told to legislate, we will draft laws. We have no problem to do that and nobody is going to blackmail us by saying that we can not pass laws on a particular issue," the lawmaker added.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday Villalba dismissed the possibility that the National Assembly will propose a law to regulate the Internet. "We have ruled out that possibility, as far as I am concerned. The plenary of the National Assembly gave me a mandate. I do not know where did you get the idea that there is a proposal to control (the Web)," he said.

The "mandate" to which Villalba referred was the agreement of the National Assembly on Tuesday, when the members of the Venezuelan Parliament decided that the Committees on Domestic Policy and Media should investigate the news website Noticiero Digital for spreading false information about the alleged death of the Minister of Public Works and Housing, Diosdado Cabello, and pro-government TV anchor Mario Silva.

"The only decision we have adopted is to investigate the 'news' posted on Noticiero Digital, Villalba said, when he was asked about the scope of the probe.

Although the probe has not started, Villalba added that the information spread by Noticiero Digital is an offense. According to the legislator, the Criminal Code provides for two to five years of imprisonment in these cases.
ppenaloza@eluniversal.com

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Pedro Pablo Peñaloza
EL UNIVERSAL