Chega delivered this Tuesday in Parliament a bill that aims to modify the Portuguese Charter of Human Rights in the Digital Age, revoking article 6, and prohibits parties from sharing information on the Internet. Internet.
It is enough to propose the repeal of article 6, considering that it results in excessive interference in the freedom of citizens, both to share information and to consume information”, justifies the parliamentary group in the initiative.
Article 6 of the Portuguese Charter of Human Rights in the Digital Age establishes that “the State guarantees compliance in Portugal with the European Action Plan against Disinformation, in order to protect society against natural or legal persons, of jure or de facto”. that produce, reproduce or spread narrative considered disinformation“.
Disinformation is considered “any demonstrably false or misleading narrative created, presented and disseminated for economic advantage or to deliberately mislead the public”, such as “the use of manipulated texts or videos”, except “simple errors in the communication of information”, as well as satires or parodies”, that “is likely to cause public harm, that is, a threat to democratic political processes, public policy-making processes and public goods”.
Also in the terms of this article, “every person has the right to present and have complaints evaluated by the Media Regulatory Entity” and “the State supports the creation of verification structures by the duly registered media and encourages quality attribution. seals of accredited entities endowed with the condition of public utility”.
Chega also proposes an amendment to article 5, which currently states that “the intentional interruption of access to Interneteither partially or totally, or the limitation of the dissemination of information or other content, except in the cases provided by law.
Deputies from the far-right party want the law to specifically establish that “in no case may access or use Internet and the various digital platforms, as well as the ability to disseminate information in digital media, to legally constituted political parties or duly registered media outlets.”
This change is justified “by the importance of these institutions for the normal functioning of democracy and their intrinsic relationship with freedom of expression.”
With these changes to the law, Chega says he wants “guarantee compliance with the right to freedom of expression”.
The leader of Chega has already seen his official account on the social network Twitter suspended several times due to posts he made. André Ventura will respond in court after a defamation complaint filed by BE deputy Mariana Mortágua for a publication on that social network, and also Chega’s deputy and Vice President Pedro Frazão were convicted and forced to publish a denial for offenses against Francisco Loco.
Parliament approves lifting André Ventura’s immunity in two cases
In July of last year, the President of the Republic asked the Constitutional Court to review article 6 of the current Portuguese Charter of Human Rights in the Digital Age, taking into account the “important public debate” about its content.
In the last legislature, the Liberal Initiative and the CDS-PP had already proposed the repeal of this article, but their initiatives were rejected.
Source: Observadora
