Bolivia has a large number of radio and TV stations broadcasting with private media outlets dominating.[1] There has been a recent, rapid growth of state-owned media, including a network of community radios.[2] State-owned and private radio and TV stations generally operate freely, although both pro-government and anti-government groups have attacked media outlets in response to their reporting (2010).[1]
The Bolivian National Telecommunications Company was privatized in 1995 but re-nationalized in 2007; the primary trunk system is being expanded and employs digitalmicrowave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; system operations, reliability, and coverage have steadily improved. Most telephones are concentrated inLa Paz,Santa Cruz, and other capital cities; mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly and, in 2011, teledensity reached about 80 per 100 persons.[1]
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet. TheBolivian constitution and law provide forfreedom of speech andpress. Although the government generally respects these rights, in at least two cases in 2012, the government used the anti-racism law to restrict both rights.[8] Some senior government officials also verbally harassed members of the press corps. Bolivian law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence and the government generally respects these prohibitions, but there have been allegations that the government does not always respect the law. Defamation remains a criminal offence.
Concerns were raised over a 2010 anti-discrimination law. Its "far-reaching and vague" language could be used to curb and punish legitimate journalism, warned theCommittee to Protect Journalists.[2]
On 23 October 2012, theConstitutional Court struck down thelibel law that allowed for detention of one month to four years for a person found guilty of insulting, defaming, or slandering public officials.[8]
On 2016, after theConstitutional Referendum, the government considered the win of the option of NO a "dirty game" but it avoid endangering his government decided to cancel a bill to restrict social networks when insultingPresidentEvo Morales and his acts of corruption (like the Gabriela Zapata's case). But a law is going to be launched in April or May 2016.[citation needed]
^abc"Bolivia",Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 20 March 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2025 ed.).CIA.
