ANC, 2017. Ley constitucional contra el odio, por la convivencia pacífica y la tolerancia, Official Gazette No.41.271
On November 8, the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) promulgated the Constitutional Law Against Hatred, for Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence which establishes prison sentences of between ten to twenty years for those who incite hatred or violence through any electronic means, including social networks (article 20). The Law also establishes that intermediaries that do not remove within 6 hours from its dissemination (article 22) the messages containing war propaganda or promoting different kinds of hate speech - national, racial, religious, political or hate speech of any other kind ("mensajes que constituyan propaganda a favor de la guerra o apología del odio nacional, racial, religioso, político o de cualquier otra naturaleza") - shall be subject to sanctions ranging from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand Tax...
The National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) ordered the blocking of Infobae website which operates in Argentina, arguing the dissemination of images of deputy Robert Serra who was murdered on October the 1st. The information was released through Conatel president, William Castillo: "Following instructions, due to serious violations of the laws of Venezuela, Conatel has ordered the blocking of the Infobae portal". The official did not specify what law and/or articles were violated nor if any legal proceedings would follow, but since his statement the site is inaccessible from Venezuela.
In March 2014, Conatel demanded that the ISPs block websites that illegally trade wildlife, basing this demand on a decision made by a court in Caracas. In spite of the queries made by some organizations and individuals, obtaining reliable information about this procedure has been not possible. The affected ISPs did not make any public statements.
Conatel opened administrative procedures against 8 ISPs. Those ISPs hosted information portals where the cost of the black market dollar was published (Venezuela has a foreign currency exchange control policy and this is forbidden by a special law). In spite of the queries made by some organizations and individuals, obtaining reliable information about this procedure has been not possible. The affected ISPs did not make any public statements.
Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones de Venezuela (Conatel) Venezuelan National Commission of Telecommunications, http://www.conatel.gob.ve Freedom House, Freedom on the Net, Venezuela, http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2013/venezuela#.U9BdWkCTErM
In December 2010, the National Assembly of Venezuela adopted a reform of the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, extending regulation to online and electronic media. (1) Under the amended law, websites may be fined for content posted by a third party and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who do not respond to government inquiries risk high fines and temporary suspension of operations (Articles 27 and 28). (2) This law empowers the regulatory entity "Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones de Venezuela (Conatel) Venezuelan National Commission of Telecommunications" to open "administrative procedures" against ISPs. Administrative procedures do not involve lawsuits and judicial review, those are instructions given by Conatel that ISPs must comply under severe penalties imposed by the ResorteMe law.