Ecuador Law Curbs Press Election Coverage; Censorship Feared

Image via WikipediaUrged by President Rafael Correa to stamp out "illegitimate propaganda," the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly has enacted a law preventing news media from writing about candidates or their movements within 45 days of an election, Bloomberg News reports.

Voters will choose a president, vice president and members of the Assembly (which supplanted the National Congress in 2007) on Jan. 20, 2013, but free press advocates, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, are concerned the legislation, that encompasses positive and negative coverage of candidates, may be used to stifle journalists.