Worse for Web Freedom: Hugo Chavez or the FCC?

[Geee]

Pajamas Media:

Amongst many other unpleasant things, Venezuela’s Communist dictator Hugo Chavez is famous for yanking the licenses — and presences — of radio and television stations. He has, in fact, declared open war on all opposition media, silencing nearly any outlet that stands opposed.

This is information control — with Chavez seeking to ensure that no Venezuelan citizen learns anything beyond that which Chavez wants them to know.

Now, he has turned his Sauron eye to the Internet. An information-control bill has been presented to the Venezuelan parliament that includes some Internet regulation. As Reuters reports, the bill

proposes applying limits on content in “electronic media” according to the time of day, with adult content reserved for programing after midnight.

Such limitations already are in place for TV and radio programing. It was not clear how they would be applied to the Internet.

The bill also proposes allowing the government to restrict access to websites if they are found to be distributing messages or information that incite violence against the president.

Even by Venezuelan standards, that last proposition is over the top. Ominous and open-ended, left to the discretion of the enforcer — it’s very Chavez-esque, to be sure.

But how does it stack up against the latest efforts of our own Federal Communications Commission (FCC)?