29. Access to information, freedom of expression and freedom of the press

We commit to guarantee the citizens’ rights to request and receive information, the obligation the State has of providing information and the transparency and dissemination of government acts. We also commit to safeguard freedom of expression and eradicate any practice limiting it, as well as ensuring the citizen’s right to truthful, objective and quality information. Also we commit to promote full and responsible exercise of the broadest freedom of the press, allowing free creation of all kinds of mass media communication and free dissemination of ideas and information.

With the objective of guaranteeing access to information and freedom of expression, the State: (a) will promote a transparency, accountability and dissemination of government acts culture, eliminating the culture of secrecy; (b) will nullify any criminal regulations threatening the full exercise of freedom of expression and illegal restrictions of same and it will penalize its manipulation; (c) will establish a transparent and fair system to allocate State publicity; (d) will eradicate administrative barriers, will reduce access costs and will promote the use of electronic means to facilitate free, timely and complete access to State information; (e) will seek to strike a balance between the right to protection of personal intimacy and national security, with the right to freely access to State information and to freedom of expression; (f) will unify legislation on access to State information and publicity of public administration acts; (g) will guarantee the political parties that compete in each election access in equality conditions to mass media that use the electromagnetic spectrum and to electoral time slots.  Aiming at guaranteeing freedom of the press, the State: (h) will prevent any kind of censorship; (i) will favor ethical self regulations of mass media and citizen organization to defend the population’s rights to free access to information; (j) will propose the existence of conscience clauses that may guarantee the freedom of journalism to an independent opinion and ethical codes in the communication companies; and (k) will have a policy against all kinds of information that damages people’s dignity and honor.