The Law of Social Communication, which has just entered into force, targets officials who refuse to “give answers” to the regime’s journalists
14ymedio, Havana, 3 October 2024 — The Cuban press wakes up this Thursday celebrating the entry into force of the Law of Communication, approved by Parliament last June. For Escambray – the newspaper of the Communist Party in Sancti Spíritus, which publishes an enthusiastic article about it – there is no better news than knowing that the leaders, who until now have ignored the responsibility of offering information to the population and the media, will not be able to “avoid the consequences.”
From this Wednesday until next Friday, the heads of the ideological departments of the Party in each province, accompanied by journalists, must attend training sessions to “deepen the study of the Social Communication Law and achieve its intelligent, consistent and distortion-free application.”
They must “respond with immediacy, opportunity, transparency and veracity, particularly to facts and situations that by their nature, sensitivity and public connotation demand urgent communication with the population,” according to the law.
Escambray says that for each “infraction” there will be fines of between 3,000 and 30,000 pesos
Escambray says that for each “infraction” there will be fines of between 3,000 and 30,000 pesos, but it clarifies that “the logical thing, the reasonable thing” is for the leaders to comply with the law and avoid those extremes. It’s especially important for “managers and officials who have been on the left foot with social communication,” if they don’t want to get into trouble.”
The warning, in a more overlapping way, is repeated in many provincial newspapers and even in the State newspaper Granma, which celebrates its 59th birthday this Thursday. Granma, founded in 1965 after the suppression of media such as Hoy and Revolución – which, with various approaches and loyal to Fidel Castro, were still considered “free press” – recalls that since then its “commission” was “to disseminate the work of the Revolution.” This precept is repeated by the Law of Communication, which again insists that anyone who discredits the Regime can be sanctioned.
“The Social Communication System acts in accordance with the socialist State principles of law and social justice, democratic, independent and sovereign; the expression of the thought and example of Martí and Fidel; and the ideas of social emancipation of Marx, Engels and Lenin,” clarifies Article 5 of the document.
The new law barely affects the independent press, which is patently illegal according to the Constitution itself
The new law barely affects the independent press, which is patently illegal according to the Constitution itself, the Criminal Code and other laws that limit freedom of expression and the press, including Decree-Law 370. Therefore, “the legal obligation of managers, officials and employees of State bodies, agencies and entities to provide the information requested by journalists and managers of media organizations,” is an exclusive right of the State media.
The work of the independent press is considered an act of “communicational aggression that takes place against the country” and an instigation to “terrorism and war in any of its forms and manifestations, including cyberwar.”
The Law of Social Communication, which includes the obligation to register a medium in the national registers – something that would be denied to anyone “against the Revolution” – contemplates a regimen of sanctions for those who violate any of its precepts. For the independent press, however, the Criminal Code approved in 2022 remains, which provides for the punishment of ten years in prison for anyone who receives funds or finances “activities against the State and its constitutional order.”
In fact, not only can any independent media not, like the official media, demand answers from the leaders and institutions of the country, but their work is directly considered an act of “communicational aggression against the country” and an instigation to “terrorism and war in any of its forms and manifestations, including cyberwar.”
The Law of Social Communication does not include the possible sanctions that infringing these precepts would entail – which creates a legal vacuum that can be taken advantage of by the regime’s courts – and vaguely refers to other legal instruments (“The non-compliance with what is regulated in the previous article implies the requirement of responsibility, in accordance with the laws and other regulatory provisions”). The Criminal Code approved in 2022, for example, provides for the punishment of ten years in prison for anyone who receives funds or finances “activities against the State and its constitutional order,” something similar to some of the provisions in the Law of Social Communication.
It will be enough to contravene the law to make a comment or react to a publication that is considered to have the “objective of subverting the constitutional order”
For the population, the worst part remains. In practice, it will be enough to make a comment or react to a publication that is considered to have the “objective of subverting the constitutional order” – another ambiguity – to contravene the law.
Article 51 contains a no-less-disturbing section that calls for “implementing and informing users of the self-regulation procedures that avoid publications that violate the provisions of the Constitution, this Law and other normative provisions on this matter,” from which it follows that Cubans will also be told what they can and cannot share, applaud or complain about on their social networks.
Some citizens have already been investigated for their publications, as stipulated in Decree-Law 370. This is the case of the opponent José Manuel Barreiro Rouco, arrested in June last year for sharing memes that affect “the honor and integrity of relevant figures of the Cuban Revolution,” including President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Barreiro finally had his trial in early September in the Provincial Court of Cienfuegos. The Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of two and a half years in prison for the crimes of contempt and illegal possession and sale of dollars.
In August, Samuel Pupo Martínez – who was imprisoned for two years, eight months and 21 days following the demonstrations of 11 July 2021 (’11J’) – was threatened by State Security agents to be returned to prison for his posts on social networks. The posts that sting the Regime, for which he was forced to sign a warning, are, in the words of the authorities, proof that Pupo is “prone to commit a crime of propaganda against the constitutional order.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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