Quintana Roo Withdraws Controversial Image Rights Bill

CHETUMAL — State legislators in Quintana Roo have formally withdrawn a proposed reform to the state's Civil Code concerning image rights, following significant rejection from journalists, media outlets, and civil society organizations who criticized the initiative for its excesses and inaccuracies.

The request to cancel the legislative process was submitted to the Justice Commission of the State Congress. The initiative's proponents—Deputy María José Osorio of the PVEM, along with deputies Hugo Alday Nieto of the PT and Ricardo Velazco of Morena—moved to withdraw the proposal.

On Monday afternoon, Deputy Osorio delivered a letter to the Clerk's Office of the State Congress formally requesting the initiative be withdrawn from consideration. She stated that the withdrawal aims to open a new study process and build another proposal with clearer and more consensual wording, one that does not violate freedom of expression.

"We will return to working on the issue, but clearly explaining that investigative work can be done properly by the media, where freedom of expression is not violated, so that there are no suspicions and no one thinks that we want to restrict freedom of expression," she stated.

Osorio emphasized that it was never the legislators' intention to affect freedom of expression and presented the withdrawal of the initiative as a clear example of this commitment.

The decision follows a dialogue held last Saturday between Deputy Osorio and journalists. During that meeting, she initially attempted to convince attendees that the initiative did not violate freedom of expression or the right to information. However, when confronted with specific points detailing flaws in the proposal that could lead to undue harm, she pledged to propose to her fellow proponents that they withdraw it.