COLOMBIA

The First Committee of the House of Representatives approved in first debate the draft Legislative Act No. 052/2021 that establishes the Internet as a fundamental right. The bill seeks to guarantee the right and promotion of internet access to all inhabitants of the national territory. The bill is expected to be debated in the plenary of the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. 

The bill amends Article 20 of the Constitution to include the guarantee of the right to access, connectivity and Internet coverage for all inhabitants of the national territory. The State will provide effective mechanisms to satisfy this right, with special emphasis on the rural population.

In turn, the initiative, promoted by Congressmen León Fredy Muñoz Lopera (Alianza Verde – opposition) and María José Pizarro Rodríguez (Lista de la Decencia – opposition) among others, proposes that the State gradually provide lower-income people with a vital minimum for the lower-income population so that this constitutional guarantee in relation to the right to information and related rights is understood to be satisfied.