Mexican government to issue fines for broadcasting foreign political propaganda

For the foreseeable future, if Televisa or any other broadcast licensee airs Donald Trump’s controversial anti-immigrant campaign, they will pay dearly. Literally. Claudia Sheinbaum’s government is pushing through a reform to the law in which fines of between 2% and 5% of the total income of the concessionaire that broadcasts propaganda from foreign governments will be applied. Taking into account the main Mexican broadcasting concessionaires — Televisa and TV Azteca — which are in the hands of two of the richest men in the country, the fines would reach stratospheric figures. Federal government sources have told EL PAÍS that radio and TV executives have condemned the proposal because they were not consulted and consider the penalties too high. The bill will be approved next week in the Senate and immediately sent for ratification to the Chamber of Deputies.

The proposed amendment to the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law establishes that sanctions will be handled by the Ministry of the Interior, to which powers are restored in the oversight of concessionaires. “A fine for the equivalent of 2%, up to 5%, of the income of the concessionaire, authorized [entity], programmer, or digital platform will be applied for [...] failing to comply with the prohibition of advertising established in Article 210 of the law,” states the directive. “Concessionaires that provide restricted radio, television, or audio broadcasting service in the country may not transmit political, ideological, commercial, or any type of propaganda of foreign governments or entities, with the exception of tourism or cultural promotion. Nor will foreign governments be allowed to use the national media to influence the internal affairs of the country.”

The article extends the same prohibition — and the possibility of the same fines — to digital platforms, from social networks such as X to streaming services such as YouTube. “Digital platforms, whose contents are available in the national territory, may not commercialize advertising spaces for the dissemination of publicity, propaganda, or any information from foreign governments other than that which has cultural or tourism purposes,” the initiative states.

The aggressive anti-migrant campaign sponsored by Washington made headlines this week and has struck a nationalist chord among Mexican authorities. The campaign’s first spot shows U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem warning people who enter the country illegally that they will be “hunted down” and deported. So far, the spot, in English and with subtitles, has been aired on Televisa’s most popular channels and programs, although the government has also confirmed the spot has been broadcast on local radio stations (with Spanish dubbing).

00:38

Kristi Noem at the Cecot facility in El Salvador

According to public information, Televisa, owned by Emilio Azcárraga Jean, had revenues of 62.261 billion pesos ($3.171 billion) in 2024. On the other hand, TV Azteca, owned by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, had revenues of 15.1 billion pesos ($769 million) in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available (the station has ceased to be listed on the Stock Exchange). If the law were to apply immediately to Azcárraga Jean’s network, the fine to which it would be subject would range between 1,245 and 3,113 million pesos ($63.5-159.8 million)

The bill states that the administration of the radio spectrum will be in the hands of the powerful Digital Transformation Agency (ATD), headed by Pepe Merino, one of President Sheinbaum’s closest collaborators. The law states that spectrum management is a public priority, as “its proper administration will guarantee the availability of this resource to meet the growing demand for wireless communication.” It states that it is necessary to ensure equitable access to the spectrum, technological innovation, and optimization of use in an efficient and sustainable manner. “With strategic planning, we can close the digital divide, improve the country’s competitiveness, and ensure that more people benefit from the opportunities offered by digitalization,” Merino said.

In fact, the ATD will take over the role of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), decommissioned by the Sheinbaum administration together with a raft of autonomous governmental institutions. The agency will be in charge of the elaboration and approval of plans and programs for the use of the spectrum; the establishment of conditions for the allocation of frequency bands; the granting of concessions, authorizations and registration certificates; the supervision of radio emissions and the application of the sanctions regime. In short, the government will once again have absolute control over spectrum concessions.

The initiative indicates that, although the government will supervise to ensure content respects human and audience rights, the concessionaires will have “full freedom of expression, programmatic freedom, editorial freedom,” and it is assured that there will be no “prior censorship over their contents.” The law states that audiences and users “are the most important component in the telecommunications ecosystem, the services offered by concessionaires are for them and by them,” and therefore a robust scaffolding has been designed to guarantee their rights through the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco).

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition