Law on Gender Equity in Communication Services Now Regulated

Law No. 27635, passed in 2021, promoted gender equity in the representation of genders –from a sexual diversity perspective– in communication services, both state and privately managed. This law was enacted within the framework of the international commitments Argentina took on through treaties and sought to promote real equality of rights and opportunities and non-discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, to guarantee inclusion policies in the world of work and to promote spaces free of violence and harassment. Now, on June 8, 2023, the law was finally regulated through Decree No. 304/2023.

The decree creates an Interjurisdictional Coordination Unit composed of representatives of the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity; representatives of the Argentine Communications Agency (ENACOM); and representatives of the Secretariat of Media and Public Communication of the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers. Each agency will have to appoint a representative and an alternate representative with a rank no lower than National Director to be part of it. The Decree also appoints the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security as the enforcement authority of the law. The Ministry is empowered to issue clarifying and supplementary rules to implement the law.

On the other hand, the Annex to the Regulatory Decree states in Chapter III that within ninety days the enforcement authority will have to create and run the Registry of Communication Services operated by Private Management Providers. Within the same term, it must determine the process for its registration, validity, and other elements necessary for it to be operational. Further, the principle of equity in the representation of genders must be one of the objective criteria to be used to allocate state advertising.

However, this Annex leaves some issues unregulated, such as the provisions in Chapter II on the mandatory regime for communication services operated by state-managed providers, and the functions of the enforcement authority, among others.