Bill 126.

Summary.

The bill proposes amending Law 81 of 2019, concerning personal data protection, by adding Article 36-A. The proposed article provides that the provisions of that law would not apply to journalistic work carried out by social communication media in Panama. The exclusion is framed around a specified activity: the performance of journalistic work by those media. Article 1 places this rule within Law 81 of 2019 itself and expressly connects it to the Political Constitution (Constitución política). The proposed amendment would therefore introduce a provision into the existing law that addresses how its rules apply when the activity described in the bill is carried out.

The wording of the proposed article defines the exclusion by reference both to the activity and to those performing it. It identifies social communication media engaged in journalistic work in Panama and provides that, when performing that work, they would be outside the application of Law 81 of 2019. The reference to the Political Constitution is part of the text that would be added. The proposal would make this rule a new article of the personal data protection law, numbered 36-A. Its subject is the relationship between that law’s provisions and the journalistic activity identified in the bill, rather than a separate procedure for applying the exclusion.

Article 2 again states that Article 36-A would be added to Law 81 of 2019. It also provides for the repeal of any provision contrary to the proposed law. The repeal clause is expressed in general terms and accompanies the amendment set out in the preceding article. The bill thus combines the incorporation of a rule concerning journalistic work with a provision addressing rules that conflict with the proposed law. The amendment concerns the application of Law 81 of 2019 in the circumstances described by the new article, while Article 2 states the repeal effect that the bill would attach to its enactment. Both provisions address the same proposed change to the existing legal framework.

Article 3 provides that the proposed law would take effect upon promulgation. That commencement rule would apply to the bill as a whole: the addition of Article 36-A and the repeal of contrary provisions would take effect from that point. Taken together, the articles propose a change to Law 81 of 2019 concerning journalistic work performed by social communication media in Panama, with an express reference to the Political Constitution. The National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) is the public institution involved in processing the bill. By subject matter, the proposal could concern social communication media and the journalistic sector.