The reasons why the Government will not be able to use institutional spaces to call for May 1st marches

"The Television Regulation Commission (sic) has just censured us," said President Gustavo Petro on the evening of April 25 after the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) , the state technical entity in charge of issuing rules and regulations for the communications, postal and television services markets in Colombia, notified the Presidency that the request for institutional spaces to call for the marches on May 1, the date on which the president plans to submit the popular consultation on labor reform to the Congress of the Republic, had not been approved .

"Listen carefully, the Regulatory Commission is not allowing government bodies to call on the people to march on May 1st to defend the referendum," the president insisted on his favorite social network, X.

The entity, for its part, denied that the decision constituted an act of censorship and explained that its function is limited to " verifying that the content requested for broadcast on open television complies with the purposes established in current regulations ."

The 27-second video the government wanted to promote simulates a fictional conversation between two citizens who agree to take to the streets to support the referendum.

- What are you doing on May 1st? It's a holiday, so are we going on a little trip? A little something relaxing?

- What do you mean, you're not going to the square?

- Well, off to Bolívar Square. Don't you see it's Labor Day and we have to defend the referendum? The progress we've made in rights must be defended.

- Yeah, are we going together or what?

Institutional spaces are assigned only to State entities, Ministries, Affiliated Entities, Governorships, Oversight Bodies, and Regional Corporations. The Communications Regulation Commission is the competent authority to process requests for both civic messages and institutional spaces seeking to inform citizens about matters of public interest, as well as their programming and broadcasting.

These spaces are regulated by CRC Resolution 5050 of 2016, in compliance with the provisions of Article 55 of Law 182 of 1995, which establishes that these spaces must be used exclusively to inform citizens about the exercise of functions of State entities , as well as to promote family unity, civic spirit, education, human rights, culture and, in general , aimed at disseminating the purposes and principles of the State.

According to the CRC, the government's content in this case does not meet these requirements. "The content referring to the 'May 1st Popular Consultation' submitted by the Presidency of the Republic on April 24 was reviewed and not approved because it did not meet the purposes described for the Institutional Spaces," the organization stated.

It was not approved because it did not meet the purposes described for Institutional Spaces.

In this regard, Article 55 of Law 182 of 1995 specifically states that "the concessionaires or operators of television spaces at the zonal, regional or local level or their contractors, according to the regulations of the National Television Commission, within three (3) months following the issuance of this Law, will permanently create and during prime time institutional spaces for the promotion of family unity and civility, education to combat drug use, consumer associations and governmental spaces , the Attorney General's Office, the Ombudsman's Office and the news programs and informative advances of Congress."

Despite rejecting the content, the CRC suggested on April 25 that the Secretariat of Communications and Press of the Presidency of the Republic separately process the invitation to citizens to march to commemorate Labor Day and the dissemination of educational information about the referendum mechanism that will be submitted for processing before the Senate of the Republic.

The CRC also emphasized that since President Gustavo Petro took office as head of state in August 2022, he has processed and authorized a total of 68 institutional spaces requested by the Presidency of the Republic, which have met the conditions established in the regulations, as well as the requests submitted by other National Government Entities.

"The Commission does not evaluate, modify, or restrict the content of political expressions, opinions, statements, or positions expressed by authorities, political movements, or any other actor when these are disseminated through media outlets or forums. In these cases, the fundamental right to freedom of expression, inherent to a democratic and pluralistic society, prevails," the CRC added.

Faced with this decision, President Petro, who accused the CRC members of being "friends" of former President Iván Duque, called for the use of "every means of communication, even the messages written under the door, so that ten million of us will be in the streets this May Day."

He also stressed that there will be a judicial response from the Executive.

Juan Pablo Penagos Ramirez