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Censorship in Bolivia can be traced back through years of conflict between Bolivia's indigenous population and the wealthier population of European descent.^[1] Until Bolivia democratized in 1982, the media was strictly controlled.^[2]

Media

Film

Film and documentary makers in Bolivia and other Latin American countries struggle to make a living creating film, find a large enough audience for their movies, and make their movies impactful yet non-offensive.^[3] In Bolivia and Argentina filmmakers have been forced to flee the country as a result of film and censorship laws.^[3] In the extreme, documentary film makers in Bolivia have been arrested for defamation in their films.^[4]

Radio

Within Bolivia, powerful, wealthy families with connections to the country's traditional political groups control the majority, around 80 percent, of radio stations although there are still a handful of stations run by local organizations, government, or other groups.^[5]^[6] Independent community stations are about four percent of the total number of radio stations.^[6]^[2] These stations have gained popularity with Morales as an indigenous president, and these stations are overall more popular within indigenous communities.^[6] They have a history of serving as a way for marginalized communities to express their identity and dislike of authoriarianism.^[6]

Newspapers

Historically, newspapers in Bolivia have been the root and voice of political opposition with the goal of challenging the current and past political leadership.^[7] Yet there are many difficulties related to running a newspaper in Bolivia as challenging the political leadership does not lead to high levels of job security and a secure income. Journalists want better working conditions, job training, for media to be free an unrestrained by the government and financial considerations.^[8] There is little advertising for newspapers partly due to low literacy levels.^[7] While there have been fewer attacks on journalists, there are still many cases that are waiting to work their way through the court system.^[2]^[9] Gradual improvements in internet access will lead to new environments and opportunities for newspapers and media in Bolivia.^[2]^[8]^[9]

Internet

In June 2017, Bolivia joined 16 other countries in rejecting a UN Human Rights Commission resolution affirming the right to a free, uncensored internet".^[10] However, the Bolivian state practices little internet censorship.^[11]

Legal

Anti-racism law

As a result of historically racist communication between Bolivians of European descent and indigenous Bolivians, Morales created an anti-racism law that prevents against publishing racist media with the goal of protecting indigenous communities.^[9] The bill was signed into law on October 8, 2010. Upon its adoption, critics claimed that the law defined "racism" too loosely. The bill was passed during protests by media outlets, who expressed concern over the possibility that the bill could be abused in order to censor or close media outlets that criticize the government. Despite the protests, the bill was passed without amendments.^[12]

As of February 2014, no convictions under the anti-racism had been recorded.^[13] Due to this lack of convictions, the legislation has been widely criticized by the Bolivian media as being a dead letter.^[14]

Social media monitoring

In the past couple of years, Morales has tweeted and talked about the possibility of regulating social media, but he was faced with strong opposition and proceeded to abandon the plan.^[15] The idea of this stemmed from tweets that Morales saw as bullying or threatening to his reputation.^[15] The opposition's case was that there were many more possible opportunities for the government to utilize and embrace social media rather than censor it and be afraid of it.^[1] They were also afraid that the proposed social media regulation law would resemble the anti-racism bill's vague and broad language.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Between Hashtags and Memes, Bolivian Leaders Push for Social Media Regulation". Global Voices Advocacy. 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Whitten-Woodring, Jenifer; Van Belle, Douglas A. (2014). Historical Guide to World Media Freedom: A Country-by-Country Analysis: Bolivia: 1948–2012. CQ Press. pp. 83–86.
^ ^a ^b Ross, Miriam R. (2010-11-01). "Audiovisual laws and legal intervention in South American cinematic culture". International Journal of Cultural Policy. 16 (4): 418–432. doi:10.1080/10286630903383246. ISSN 1028-6632. S2CID 144492161.
^ "Bolivia | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2012". freedomhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
^ Lupien, Pascal (2013). "The Media in Venezuela and Bolivia Attacking the 'Bad Left' from Below". Latin American Perspectives. 40 (3): 226–46. doi:10.1177/0094582X13476004. S2CID 145337127.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Martín, Juan Ramos; Matos, Ángel Badillo (2013-07-01). "Public Policy and Community Radio in Bolivia". Journal of Radio & Audio Media. 20 (2): 251–272. doi:10.1080/19376529.2013.823969. ISSN 1937-6529. S2CID 216087194.
^ ^a ^b O'Connor, Alan (1990). "The Alternative Press in Bolivia and Ecuador: The Examples of Aquí and Punto de Vista". The Howard Journal of Communications. 2 (4): 349–356. doi:10.1080/10646179009359728.
^ ^a ^b "More than half of Bolivian journalists have suffered censorship and self-censorship". Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. Archived from the original on 2019-05-18. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Bolivia | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2015". freedomhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
^ "Bolivia". freedomhouse.org. 2017-04-20. Archived from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
^ "Internet Censorship 2020: A Global Map of Internet Restrictions". Comparitech. 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
^ "Boliva: anti-racism law passed despite media outcry". Index on Censorship. 2010-10-12. Archived from the original on 2010-10-17. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
^ Bolivia's Anti-Racism Law – Not Worth the Paper It's Written On? [1]. February 2014.
^ Bolivian press says final anti-racism law softens penalties for media Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, University of Texas at Austin, December 2010
^ ^a ^b Gloria Carrasco (25 October 2012). "Bolivia weighs regulating social media - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2016-11-16.