The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Incident

Ecuador's Organic Communication Law creates a regulator that issues hundreds of sanctions against journalists and outlets

EcuadorRSF 2026 rank: 125th of 180

Engraving of an empty press briefing room with a lectern and rows of chairs

Ecuador's National Assembly passed the Organic Communication Law under President Rafael Correa, creating the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), a regulator that issued more than 675 sanctions against journalists and media outlets over the following four years.1234

What happened

On June 25, 2013, Ecuador's National Assembly, controlled by allies of President Rafael Correa, passed the Organic Communication Law, which created the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), a regulator empowered to fine, reprimand or order public apologies from journalists and outlets found to have violated the law's content rules, provisions the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said were used against coverage unfavorable to the government. Within four years, SUPERCOM had opened 1,081 cases and issued 675 sanctions, by its own count, split by the monitoring group Fundamedios into 324 fines, 137 written reprimands and 54 forced public apologies. SUPERCOM itself said the law guaranteed rather than restricted press freedom because "in four years no media outlet has been closed." After Correa left office, President Lenin Moreno proposed eliminating SUPERCOM in 2018; his communications secretary said, "If we're in a constructive process, we should get rid of the Supercom."1234

What reason was given

Stated justification

SUPERCOM described its own record as evidence the law protected rather than restricted the press, saying "in four years no media outlet has been closed," while United Nations and Inter-American human-rights bodies said the law had been "used as an instrument to unduly interfere in the content of media outlets and punish them, especially when their coverage is unfavorable."3

What changed for reporting

SUPERCOM opened 1,081 cases and issued 675 sanctions against journalists and outlets in four years, including fines, written reprimands and forced public apologies, a pattern Fundamedios and international monitors said pressured critical coverage.1234

Timeline

2013

25 June 2013
Ecuador's Organic Communication Law creates a regulator that issues hundreds of sanctions against journalists and outlets

Who acted

NameRole in this incidentOffice at the time
Lenin MorenootherPresident of Ecuador
Rafael CorreaorderedPresident of Ecuador

Sources

  1. Ecuador's communications law has sanctioned 675 media outlets and journalists in four years archived copyLatAm Journalism Review, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, 2017-06-25, reporting. Source record
  2. The U-turn: Moreno steers Ecuador away from Correa's media repression archived copyCommittee to Protect Journalists, 2018-07-24, reporting. Source record
  3. Listado de concesionarios ... Disposición Transitoria Octava de la Ley Orgánica Reformatoria a la Ley Orgánica de ComunicaciónAgencia de Regulación y Control de las Telecomunicaciones (ARCOTEL), Ecuador, reporting. Source record

Claims and evidence

Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.

  1. SUPERCOM opened over a thousand cases and issued 675 sanctions within four years.1,081 cases against media outlets and journalists, of which 675 have ended in sanctionsEcuador's communications law has sanctioned 675 media outlets and journalists in four years archived copy, LatAm Journalism Review, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, 2017-06-25.Claim 276, checked 2026-09-22.
  2. Sanctions included fines, written reprimands and forced public apologies.324 have been fines, 137 have been written reprimands and 54 have been cases in which the entity or person was forced to offer a public apology.Ecuador's communications law has sanctioned 675 media outlets and journalists in four years archived copy, LatAm Journalism Review, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, 2017-06-25.Claim 277, checked 2026-09-22.
  3. International human-rights bodies said the law was used to interfere with and punish unfavorable coverage.has been used as an instrument to unduly interfere in the content of media outlets and punish them, especially when their coverage is unfavorable or questions the government's actions.Ecuador's communications law has sanctioned 675 media outlets and journalists in four years archived copy, LatAm Journalism Review, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, 2017-06-25.Claim 278, checked 2026-09-22.
  4. Moreno's communications secretary said the government should eliminate SUPERCOM.If we're in a constructive process, we should get rid of the Supercom.The U-turn: Moreno steers Ecuador away from Correa's media repression archived copy, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-07-24.Claim 279, checked 2026-09-22.