Venezuelan lawmakers weigh restraints on media

The Venezuelan National Assembly on Thursday began discussing a measure that would create an unprecedented crackdown against the media.

The law, if passed, would send offenders to prison for up to four years for spreading information that could be interpreted as an incitement to violence or that could affect Venezuelans' mental health.

Attorney General Luisa Ortega detailed the Special Law Against Media Crimes, telling the Assembly that it is a legal instrument "to regulate the conduct of the communications media and those who work in it."

"The communications media cannot be utilized to commit punishable offenses," Ortega said.