PROJECT SPECIAL LAW AGAINST MEDIA CRIMES

Article 1. Objective of the Law. This law has as an objective to prevent and sanction the actions or omissions spread through the communication media which may constitute crimes; this is the purpose of achieving a balance and the harmony between the rights to freedom of expression and timely, accurate and impartial information, and the right to the internal security of the citizens, in accordance with the laws and treaties, agreements and arrangements, subscribed and ratified by the Republic.

Article 2. Concept of communication media. To the effects of this law, communication media are those apt for transmitting, divulge, broadcast and spread, in a stable and periodical manner, texts, sounds or images destined to the public, whatever the support used may be.
Article 3, Active subjects. The following persons may incur in the crimes foreseen in the present law;

A. The owners and any other person who occupies a directing position in communication media be it printed, television, radio or of any other nature, both public and private.

B. National independent producers, journalists, presenters, lecturers, actors and any other person who express themselves through any communication medium, be it printed, television, radiophonic or of any other nature.

Article 4. Definition of media crimes. Are considered as media crimes the actions u omissions that harm the right to timely, accurate, and impartial information, that attempt against social peace, security and independence of the nation, public order, stability of the institutions of the State, public and moral mental health which generates a sensation of impunity or insecurity and are committed through a social communication medium.

Article 5. Divulgation of false news. Any person who divulges through a communication medium false news which causes a serious alteration of public calm, panic in the population, which has maintained it in fear, which has altered public order, that has produced harm to the interests of the State, will be punished with imprisonment of two to four years.
The same punishment will be applied to the person responsible of the social communication medium.

Article 6. Manipulation of news. Any person who manipulates or distorts the news, generating a false perception of the facts, or creating a matrix of opinion in the society, as far as it has aggrieve social peace, national security, public order, and public moral or mental health, will be punished with imprisonment of two to four years.
The same punishment will be applied to the person responsible for the social communication medium.

Article 7. Negative to reveal information. The director, manager, editor, or responsible for the social communication medium who refuses to reveal the identity of the author of the journalistic issue or article published under pseudonymous or anonymously, when it has been requested by the Public Ministry will be punished with imprisonment from six months to two years.

Article 9. Mediatic coercion. The director, manager, editor or responsible for the social communication media who uses it to threatens, intimidates, coerces, or in any other manner generates a fear to others will be punished with imprisonment of one to three years.

Article 10. Voluntary omission of supplying information. The owners, directors o responsible for social communication media who voluntarily and without justification refuse to inform on facts or situations which failure to divulge represents a lesion to the right of information consecrated in article 58 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, will be punished with imprisonment of two to four years.

Article 11. Instigation. That who by any communication media makes publications or radio communications intended to promote war, violence hatred, hostility among the inhabitants or collectivities, because of their race, creed, sex, religion, nationality, ideology or political militancy, will be sanctions with imprisonment of two to four years.
The same punishment will be applied to the responsible of directors of the social communication media publishing or transmitting these messages.

Article 12. Blocking of activities of communication media. Every person who hinders, or prevents by coercion, violence, threat, deceit or bribery, the free performance of any social communication medium, public or private, harming the right to accurete, timely and impartial information to which are entitled all the citizens, will be punished with imprisonment for one to three years.

Article 13. Exceptions of responsibility. The responsible for the social communication media will not incur in the crimes foreseen in the present law by comments issued by those individuals accidentally participating in alive transmission, which include intervention of public, as long as the issuer of the message is warned that they could be incurring in violation of law.
Will be also exempt of penal responsibility those responsible for social communication, regarding opinions expressed by parliamentarian in the exercise of their functions, in conformity with the established in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Article 14. Accessory Sanctions. In case that the responsible for a social communication medium is condemned through final firm sentence for the commission of a media crime, will be suspended as responsible for the social communication medium in discussion during the time of imprisonment. For the same time will be disabled for holding directive posts in other communication media.
In case of an independent national producer, as a sanction accessory to the penalty imposed for the commission of the media or communicational crime, they will be revoked of the certificate which credits them as such.

Article 15. Publication of judgment of conviction. The trial judge will order that the final firm sentence, fallen on a case related with the commission of a media crime be published in one only opportunity on the cost of the condemned and in preference place on the editorial page of the printed medium. Of divulged in stellar time thru the communication media in which the crime was committed, through the seven (7) following days after issuance. This publication or transmittal should be done without any comments, annotation, intercalation or any other kind of comment.

Article 16. Other responsibilities. The sanctions established in the present Law, do not exclude the exercise of the administrative reasonable actions against the communication medium or its responsible, in accordance with that established in the Law of Social Responsiblility on Radio and TV, Law of Tele Communications and other laws ruling the matter.
Article 17. Remission. The dispositions contained in the First Book of the Penal Code, will be will apply on all the foreseen in the present law, and regarding the procedure the norms of the Organic Process Penal Code will be applied, being this the ruling body in penal procedure.


DEROGATIVE DISPOSITION

UNIQUE. All dispositions contemplated in other law which may collide with the present law are revoked