Mexico: Rejected Amendment of Federal Law of Telecommunications including expansion of oversight power

On 31 August 2021, the amendment to the Mexican Federal Law of Telecommunications and Broadcasting was rejected after failing to be passed by Congress before the end of the LXIV legislature. The amendment targeted the category of “relevant social network providers”, including social media platforms with over a million users in Mexico. The amendment would have expanded the regulatory power of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) in the areas of licensing, content moderation and user speech rights. Firstly, relevant social network providers would have been required to obtain a license from the IFT. Secondly, relevant social network providers would have been required to remove any content the IFT designates as harmful to the public interest. Thirdly, the IFT would have acted as the final authority in decisions on user speech rights. In addition, relevant social network providers would have also been required to obtain the approval of the IFT to change their Terms and Conditions.