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Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and Television
The Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and Television '' is a Venezuelan law, adopted by the National Assembly and in force since 7 December 2004.
Its purpose is to establish a legal framework for the social responsibility of radio and television broadcasters, national and independent producers of radio and TV programming, and viewers and listeners in the dissemination and reception of transmitted information. Its stated aim is to "strike a democratic balance between duties, rights, and interests, in order to promote social justice and further the development of the citizenry, democracy, peace, human rights, education, culture, public health, and the nation's social and economic development."
The government called it a "building block for the modernization of the country's communications sector",
whereas the opposition believes it increases state control over the media.
Features
The law's purpose is to instruct the Venezuelan television networks to air cultural content and to stablish schedules for each category of the series and programs. The rating for each program is based on four content types: Language, health, sex, and violence; when a program is about to be broadcast, these content issues can either be announced with their respective "level measure" or not, depending on the channel's way to show the advice. Also, depending on the schedule and the advised contents, the program may either be suitable, in need of parental guidance or non-suitable for kids and teenagers. It is also specified if the series is a national production (made by the channel), an independent national production (made by a separate company) or an international production (a foreign program).
Likewise, every network is instructed to air the government's teasers, their political campaigns and to interrupt the usual schedule when national announcements by the President of the Republic, know as Cadenas are about to be broadcast.
In 2008, a scholarly legal article about the possible prior restraints or censorship contained in the law was published by Angel Luis Olivera Soto in The George Washington International Law Review titled "Prior Restraints in Venezuela's Social Responsibility on Radio and Television Act: Are they Justified?" (40 Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 401). Available at: http://docs.law.gwu.edu/stdg/gwilr/PDFs/40-2/40-2-2-Soto.pdf
Source
The original version of this article was translated, with minor changes, from the corresponding article on the Spanish-language Wikipedia.
External links
Ley de Responsabilidad Social en Radio y Television Full text of law
Angel Luis Olivera Soto, "Prior Restraints in Venezuela's Social Responsibility on Radio and Television Act: Are they Justified?" 40 Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 401 (2008). [*]
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and Television
