Ladder: insult and defamation laws, in South America

Laws that make it a crime, not only a civil wrong, to damage a person's reputation, to insult a head of state or a monarch (known as lèse-majesté), or to publish information that a government declares false, including laws against "fake news". Convictions can bring fines or prison.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

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2Pressure

Using state power short of prosecution to change coverage: regulatory threats, licence reviews, funding cuts, lawsuits by officials, official "fake news" or "foreign agent" labels, advertising pressure, tax audits.

ECEcuadorRSF 2026 rank: 125th of 180

25 June 2013Rafael Correa

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.

Reversed 20 February 2019 · 3 sources · Full entry

All ladders · Insult and defamation laws: by country and year · The United States chapter