Journalist guilds in Panama have expressed their rejection of a bill advancing in the National Assembly that seeks to modify the rules of the right to reply, considering that the proposal could affect freedom of the press and limit the informational work of the media. This is Bill 391, which modifies Article 2 of Law 22 of 2005, a norm that prohibits sanctions for contempt and establishes provisions related to reply, rectification, or response in the media. According to the text, the norm states that any rectification or response must be published in the same space and with the same prominence as the original information. However, organizations such as the Forum of Journalists for the Freedoms of Expression and Information, the National Journalism Council, the Panamanian Association of Broadcasting, and the Association of Journalists of Chiríki expressed their rejection of the initiative, arguing that it alters the balance between informational responsibility and editorial freedom. The guilds pointed out that the project transforms a principle of journalistic self-regulation into a coercive mechanism that could end in judicial sanctions against the media, which they consider concerning for the exercise of journalism. Among the changes proposed, the bill establishes that the reply must not only have the same space as the questioned information but also equal prominence, in addition to eliminating the provision that allowed its length to be adjusted according to the availability of the medium. Although the level of restriction is considered low, the report warns of a silent but persistent erosion of press freedom in the region. The initiative has already been approved in its first debate in Parliament. Deputy Ernesto Cedeño, from the Moca party, promoter of the proposal, explained that the objective is to guarantee justice to people who may feel affected by information disseminated in the media. Another of the concerns highlighted is that the reform sets deadlines of just 48 hours to publish the responses and would oblige the media to reserve permanent spaces for these replies, which, according to the guilds, would interfere directly with editorial autonomy and the internal organization of the media. Another of the concerns raised is that the initiative expands legal responsibilities towards business or administrative structures that do not directly participate in the creation of informational content. The guilds maintain that extending potential sanctions to companies, administrations, or even programs contracted to third parties introduces a logic of diffuse responsibility that could have inhibitory effects on the country's media ecosystem. Finally, journalistic organizations pointed out that the right to reply must be an exercise in responsibility, but not become a legal instrument that limits criticism or public oversight. Currently, Panama ranks seventh out of 23 countries in the Chapultepec Index of Freedom of Expression and the Press of the Americas, prepared by the Inter American Press Society (SIP).
