Restrictive Crimes of Freedom of Expression and its Unconstitutionality. Analysis of Three Cases Solved by the National Supreme Court of Justice

This article analyzes the existence of definitions of crime in the Mexican legal system that restrict freedom of expression and that fall in the category of indirect restrictions, which are prohibited by the Constitution. It affirms that these definitions have an inhibiting effect of the diffusion o...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Flores Pacheco, Moisés Israel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Estudios en Derecho a la Información
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/14659
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.juridicas.unam.mx/index.php/derecho-informacion/article/view/14659
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Freedom of expression
censorship
self-censorship
crimes of defamation
insult and slander
crime of disturbance to public order
crime of “Halconeo”
Libertad de expresión
censura
autocensura
delitos de difamación
injuria y calumnia
delito de perturbación al orden público
delito de “Halconeo”
Descripción
Sumario:This article analyzes the existence of definitions of crime in the Mexican legal system that restrict freedom of expression and that fall in the category of indirect restrictions, which are prohibited by the Constitution. It affirms that these definitions have an inhibiting effect of the diffusion of opinions, ideas and information in Mexico, for generating a type of self-censorship given that they prohibit, pursue and sanction conducts related to the obtention and spread of information, as well as other forms of expression. To demonstrate the thesis, firstly, the text conceptualizes freedom of expression and its importance, and highlights its dimensions: individual and social. Next, conceptual approaches to censorship, prior censorship, and self-censorship as restrictions on freedom of expression are made. Finally, by way of example, it reviews three analyzed cases by the Mexican Supreme Court in order to exemplify how these definitions were declared unconstitutional.