Free Speech Advocates on Edge Over Punitive Grenada Media Law

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The Parliament of Grenada, the Caribbean nation and largest island of the Grenadines, has passed a punitive social media measure that has drawn fire from free press proponents, The Guardian reported this week.

The new law carries one-year jail terms for violators who make "offensive" comments, or send tweets or emails on social media platforms and media Web sites, according to the Guardian article. Knowingly posting false information to cause "annoyance...insult...and ill will" also is prohibited by the new law.

A spokesperson for the International Press Institute voiced concern over the law's criminalizing matters that previously have been handled through civil remedies, and was fearful of the new law's impact on investigative journalism and freedom of speech.