Right of rectification: Sanchez shoots himself in the foot by trying to harass the media

With a mountain of corruption scandals behind it, Pedro Sánchez's government has begun its assault on the media.

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Today the government has announced an extension of the right of rectification, which has been announced by Minister Félix Bolaños with these words: "For those who dedicate themselves to lying and spreading hoaxes every day, the party is over". A statement that seems to describe the government to which he belongs, which has made lying an everyday tool to attack its rivals.

The government's announcement states that the right to rectification "extends to social media, including digital media, and to users of special relevance on online platforms (colloquially known as influencers). Users with more than 100,000 followers on a single platform, or 200,000 cumulatively on several platforms, are considered as such."

I am not going to dedicate a more extensive commentary to the details of this announcement, because at the end of the day, what the government intends is to put the spotlight on the media that uncover its cases of corruption, instead of putting the spotlight on the political corruption of the socialists themselves. In fact, in Spain we are witnessing an unusual situation: a government cornered by cases of corruption intends to intimidate the independent media so that they stop fulfilling their duty, which is to supervise the political power and denounce its abuses. What Bolaños has announced today is not the expansion of any right: it is an attack on freedom of information to cover up the government's scandals.

The most ridiculous thing about today's announcement is that with it, Sánchez and his government are shooting themselves in the foot. Suffice it to say that Sánchez has 1.9 million followers on Twitter. So, if we are to believe the absurd announcement made today by Bolaños, Sánchez would be obliged to publish corrections on a daily basis on Twitter, since he has a habit of lying repeatedly. If this reform is approved, which I doubt, Sánchez would be one of the biggest losers and the Twitter community notes would be the least of his problems.

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Photo: Efe.