Social Media Protests in Mexico Shape Telecom Bill

    By Juan Montes 

    MEXICO CITY--A Senate panel in Mexico proposed late Tuesday modifications to key aspects of a telecom bill presented by President Enrique Peña Nieto, after some opposition leaders and Internet activists argued that the proposal gives disproportionate powers to the government to control TV content and Internet access.

    Several groups of Internet users and activists took to social networks in recent days to protest against Mr. Peña Nieto and his proposal. On Monday, the hashtag "EPNvsInternet" was a world-wide trending topic, cited more than 400,000 times and reached more than 58 million Twitter users, according to an application that tracks trending topics around the world.

    Civil organizations that defend freedom of expression, such as Internet para Todos and Artículo 19, and popular Internet users in Mexico such as Sopitas, who has 575,000 Twitter followers, have voiced objections to the bill. Several hundred protesters demonstrated Tuesday in front of the Senate building.

    "The president's bill is very ambiguous and discretionary. That opens the door to political persecution, something that has been very present in Mexico's history," said Francisco Alanis, also known as Sopitas. "We want the bill to limit the power of the government and be much more explicit regarding the rights of Internet users."

    The government denies the telecom bill would violate the privacy of Internet users. In a recent interview, Deputy Communications Minister José Ignacio Peralta said it was necessary for the government to have some powers for national security purposes and to prevent cybercrime.

    Some analysts said the protests are a sign of the pluralism of Mexico's young democracy, which opened to political competition in the late 1990s after close to seven decades of authoritarian rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. Mr. Peña Nieto returned the PRI to the presidency in 2012 after 12 years in opposition, but many in Mexico remain wary of the party.

    "This debate shows the enormous democratic progress of Mexico in recent years," said Soledad Loaeza, a political scientist at the El Colegio de México university. "At the same time, it also reminds us that there are still many Mexicans who mistrust the PRI as a truly democratic party."

    Late Tuesday, the Senate Communications Committee proposed a modified bill that strips out the obligation for telecom firms to provide the geographical location of users if requested by intelligence services, as Mr. Peña Nieto proposed. Also, authorities won't be able to temporarily block signals at events or places that authorities consider put national security at risk.

    Members of the protest movement say the changes don't go far enough. They are planning a protest march Saturday from broadcaster Televisa's headquarters in downtown Mexico City to the presidential residence.

    In other demands addressed by the Senate bill, the country's new autonomous telecommunications regulator will have powers to oversee TV content, in coordination with the Interior Ministry. In Mr. Peña Nieto's proposal, those powers were concentrated in the ministry.

    Some modifications also affect the interests of dominant telecom giant América Móvil, owned by tycoon Carlos Slim. The company will have to phase out charges on domestic long-distance calls in one year instead of the three years proposed by Mr. Peña Nieto. The bill keeps the obligation for América Móvil to complete calls from competing networks without charge.

    Mr. Peña Nieto's telecom proposal, which guides the implementation of the telecommunications overhaul passed last year, has met criticism on a number of fronts. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, whose 2012 assessment of Mexican telecommunications was a key driver behind the reform, said the initiative has "serious deficiencies." The OECD also criticized its ambiguity regarding the protection of consumer rights.

    The telecom regulator also criticized the bill for being too rigid and invasive of the regulatory body's responsibilities set out in the Constitution.

    Lawmakers from Mr. Peña Nieto's PRI are supporting the proposed changes to the telecom bill. Some inside the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, are also backing the modifications. The PRI just needs three votes from PAN senators to pass the bill, which would then go to the lower house.

    Mr. Peña Nieto's telecom bill provoked heated debate among lawmakers. Many leftist and conservative senators who had supported last year's constitutional changes to limit the quasi-monopolistic practices of Mr. Slim and Televisa have been active against the government's proposal.

    "Peña Nieto's bill is undoubtedly a step back. That's why young people have formed a civic, digital insurgency...against the anachronism of giving the Interior Ministry powers to oversee content," said PAN Senator Javier Corral.

    The Internet movement has brought together many groups politically opposed to Mr. Peña Nieto. Yosoy132, a social media movement of young Mexicans that criticized Mr. Peña Nieto during the presidential campaign in 2012, formed part of the protests.

    In a video called "What's happening in Mexico?" posted on Internet by the bloggers platform YosoyRed, another group protesting the bill, a woman says in English: "President Enrique Peña Nieto wants to put an end to alternative and community media. This is censorship! This is an attack on freedom of speech!"

    "Peña represents a repressive political regime that hasn't disappeared in Mexico," said a young Mexican who identified herself as Melissa and participated in Tuesday's demonstration in front of the Senate. "That's why we're here."

    Mr. Peralta, the Deputy Communications Minister, denied those assertions in messages on his usual Twitter account.

    "The Federal Government is in favor of freedom of expression. With more Mexicans on Internet we'll have more opinions and they will all be respected," he tweeted.

    Write to Juan Montes at juan.montes@wsj.com