Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – A sweeping overhaul of Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law is moving through Congress with language that would force more than a dozen foreign news and entertainment networks — from Fox News to Deutsche Welle — off Mexican airwaves and streaming menus for being classified as foreign propaganda.
Articles 109 and 210 of the bill prohibit any free-to-air, pay-TV or digital platform operating in Mexico from carrying “political, ideological or commercial propaganda from governments or foreign entities.” Broadcasters or streamers that ignore the rule would face fines of up to 5 per cent of their annual revenue and the temporary blocking of the offending digital service.
Although the initiative targets paid political spots, its current wording would also catch entire channels whose editorial lines are financed — wholly or partially — by overseas public funds or investors. A draft list circulated among lawmakers and industry lobbyists includes Fox News (United States), Telesur (Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua), BBC World News (United Kingdom), NHK World (Japan), Deutsche Welle (Germany), Russia’s RT Noticias and China Global Television Network’s Spanish-language feed, CGTN en Español. Together, RT and CGTN reach an estimated 75 million Mexican viewers on free-to-air relays.
President Claudia Sheinbaum sent the proposal to Congress after U.S. anti-immigration ads paid for by the Trump campaign aired on Mexican television early this month. Sheinbaum argued that allowing a foreign government to broadcast messages aimed at influencing domestic debates “violates national sovereignty.”
Senate committees endorsed the draft on 24 April, clearing the way for a floor vote that ruling-party whips hope to schedule in early May. The government insists the measure merely revives restrictions that existed before 2014, when a previous reform loosened rules on retransmitting foreign signals.
Major concessionaires Televisa and TV Azteca warn the proposal would force them to scrap lucrative distribution deals and disrupt investments in new programming alliances. Investor-owned cable operators say the wording is so broad it could compel them to black out entire channel clusters rather than surgically remove individual programmes.
Free-expression groups R3D and Artículo 19 call the bill a “blank cheque for censorship,” arguing it would let regulators block platforms such as YouTube or Netflix whenever a single piece of content is deemed foreign propaganda.
Opposition senators are pressing for amendments that would narrow the definition of “propaganda,” exempt editorial content, and replace revenue-based fines with graduated sanctions. Even some governing-party legislators acknowledge the draft may overreach and say technical round-tables are analysing possible tweaks before a final vote.
If Articles 109 and 210 survive unchanged, Mexico would become the first OECD country to impose a blanket ban on foreign-funded linear channels and to give regulators explicit authority to suspend global streaming services. Critics warn such powers could chill media plurality, hamper cultural exchange and provoke retaliation from trading partners whose public broadcasters would be expelled from the Mexican market.
Supporters frame the reform as a shield against foreign influence campaigns; detractors see it as a door to discretionary censorship. With the Senate poised to decide in the coming days, the fate of some of the world’s most-watched international news networks in Mexico now hinges on a few contested paragraphs — and on whether lawmakers agree that protecting sovereignty should trump viewers’ right to choose what they watch.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - A sweeping overhaul of Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law is moving through Congress with language that would force more . . .
