Venezuela: Newspapers must not print photos of violence
A court in Venezuela has banned newspapers from publishing images of violence. The 12th Court of Caracas imposed the ban on two newspapers critical of the government and ordered other publications to comply with the ruling as well.
This should protect children. Critics fear a restriction of press freedom. On Wednesday, the newspaper El Nacional printed a first page without pictures and ran the headline: "Censorship".
The publication of a picture showing dead bodies piled up in a morgue caused a scandal in the South American country. The government saw it as a campaign against the socialist party of President Hugo Chávez ahead of elections in September. The newspapers claimed that they had wanted to draw attention to increasing insecurity.
Venezuela has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. According to non-governmental organizations, more than 16,000 people were killed last year. The government stopped publishing this data years ago.
The publication of a picture showing dead bodies piled up in a morgue caused a scandal in the South American country. The government saw it as a campaign against the socialist party of President Hugo Chávez ahead of elections in September. The newspapers claimed that they had wanted to draw attention to increasing insecurity.
Venezuela has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. According to non-governmental organizations, more than 16,000 people were killed last year. The government stopped publishing this data years ago.
