Bill 282.

Summary.

The bill proposes to enable free mass education campaigns for the population of Panama. It provides for educational communication capsules distributed through radio, television channels, the print press, social media or any other technological medium. Distribution through those outlets is the proposed means of bringing mass education content to the population. The provision defining the bill’s purpose lists the media available for the campaigns; the following provisions set obligations for television channels and radio stations, describe the capsules and limit the use of their broadcast slots.

To fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, television channels and radio stations would donate one minute per day to transmit the capsules. That minute would be divided into six (6) slots of ten (10) seconds each, scheduled during peak audience hours. The capsules transmitted in those slots would be based on programs for public socialization and awareness. The proposal thus connects the daily contribution of airtime by those broadcasters with the distribution of educational content and specifies both the length of the slots and when they would be broadcast.

The socialization and awareness programs would respond to the population’s needs for renewed education in civic habits and values, with a national social focus. Those needs would be identified annually by the entity responsible for the communications and public relations office or department of civic clubs, private interest foundations, NGOs or the regulatory body whose functions include educating and raising public awareness. The capsules would contain no logos or commercial brands. The bill therefore excludes commercial identification from the educational pieces and assigns the annual identification of the relevant needs to the actors described in its provisions.

The Ministry of Culture (Ministerio de Cultura) would grant annual recognition to legal and natural persons actively involved in and promoting the educational capsules. State institutions would be barred from using the slots set aside for their transmission. The bill also provides for the repeal of any provision contrary to it and states that it would take effect upon promulgation. Its subject matter concerns the Ministry of Culture, state institutions, civic clubs, private interest foundations, NGOs and the regulatory body referred to in the text. It could be of interest to or affect television channels, radio stations, the print press, social media platforms, other technological media and persons involved in promoting the capsules intended for the population of Panama.