MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile: Senate finds Commission Against Disinformation unconstitutional

Senator Carmen Gloria Aravena was among those who voted in favor of the motion

Chile's Senate Wednesday approved by 18 votes to 11 and 3 abstentions a draft seeking to declare President Gabriel Boric Font's Commission against Disinformation unconstitutional, it was reported in Santiago.

In this draft agreement, the President of the Republic is informed that Decree number 12 of the Ministry of Science, which creates the Advisory Commission against Disinformation, is unconstitutional because it affects a matter of law that should be discussed by the National Congress.

Earlier this month, Government Spokeswoman Camila Vallejo argued that Boric's government was committed to protecting and strengthening the rights to freedom of information and of the press and that the commission would not define what is or is not true. She insisted that the reports to be issued by the commission on the relationship between disinformation and the weakening of democracy may serve as input for the creation of public policies.

Voting in favor of the motion were Senators Carmen Gloria Aravena, Francisco Chahuán, Juan Antonio Coloma, Luciano Cruz-Coke, José Miguel Durana, Luz Ebensperger, Rojo Edwards, Rodrigo Galilea, José García, María José Gatica, Carlos Kuschel, Javier Macaya, Manuel José Ossandón, Kenneth Pugh, Ximena Rincón, David Sandoval, Gustavo Sanhueza, and Matías Walker.

Among those who voted against were: Pedro Araya, Fabiola Campillai, Loreto Carvajal, Juan Luis Castro, Iván Flores, Ricardo Lagos, Juan Ignacio Latorre, Claudia Pascual, Yasna Provoste, Alejandra Sepúlveda and Paulina Vodanovic, while the abstentions came from Karim Bianchi, Fidel Espinoza, and José Miguel Insulza.

Read also: IAPA warns about risks of commission against disinformation in Chile