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Human Rights as a bargaining chip: the case of #LeyTelecom

Document Citado por Related
Vincent
AutorFrancisco Vera
Páginas94-96

Page 94

See note 39

The recent approval of a new Telecommunications Law in Mexico uncovers an outrageous reality where the political process behind the transactions have converted Human Rights into a bargaining chip.

After an exhausting and prolonged battle by Human Rights activists from Mexican civil society, the draft of the Telecommunications Law of that country was inally passed and published in the Oficial Gazette and is ready to come into force.

The concerns regarding this law are amply justiied. While one of its initial hazards, related to rules affecting the principle of net neutrality, could have been solved, the other provisions which seriously impact the Human Rights of those living in Mexico have remained unchanged. We are speciically referring to those that are upheld in the name of public safety, such as the disproportionate capacity to control areas and populations, giving a "competent authority" the power to order the suspension of telephone services arbitrarily, in order to "prevent crimes from being commited". This measure is completely unjustiied and contrary to the right of freedom of expression, information and communication.

In fact, after the law was passed, the Human Rights Commission of the Federal District (CDHDF) stated that this was not only a law concern, it was also worrying for providing real-time geolocations and the broad and disproportionate obligation for the telecommunication companies to retain the data of their users.

However, beyond the speciic problem areas of the Telecommunications Law, there is a bitter feeling about the political processes underlying these decisions. First, because of the low participation and transparency of the project and, second, its general tone and the concepts of public interest and Human Rights that appear within it.

A major reason for this sentiment stems from the disastrous idea that Human Rights are somehow negotiable in the name of market eficiency,

Page 95

social inclusion, digital penetration or, like in this case, an overloaded notion of public safety, which does not even provide real security for citizens. Under this approach, if a bill sacriices some rights, it will not be a problem as Human Rights defenders will appear, along with other relevant actors, and provide all the relevant dots and wording to make it a "settled issue".

However, deciding on respect for Human Rights, whether it be on the Internet or on another platform or place, does not equate to...

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