Strategic Allies and the Limits of Censorship: The Power of Laws to Silence the Press

What effects do libel laws have over the press? Why do some media remain critical while others do not when facing repressive defamation legislation? This article aims to explain how the local press reacts to legal restrictions. The results show that the chilling effect caused by libel laws is condit...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Salazar Rebolledo, María Grisel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/62643
Acceso en línea:https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/rmcpys/article/view/62643
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:censura
libertad de prensa
medios de comunicación
estudios subnacionales
prensa
autoritarismos locales
México
censorship
freedom of the press
mass media
subnational studies
press
local authoritarianism
Mexico
Descripción
Sumario:What effects do libel laws have over the press? Why do some media remain critical while others do not when facing repressive defamation legislation? This article aims to explain how the local press reacts to legal restrictions. The results show that the chilling effect caused by libel laws is conditioned by the context’s particularities: the critical function of the press may persist if strategic allies are present. Leaning on an original dataset on the content of the main Mexican newspapers of each state, it is argued that an independent judiciary and vigorous parliamentary opposition are key factors for the survival of a critical press.