Event Summary
On 14 October 2025, the Chamber of Deputies ratified its version of the Personal Data Protection Bill. The Bill was first introduced in Congress in 2021 and one of the modifications made in 2025 (introduction of Article 24) has been widely criticised for its potential negative impact on the right to access information. Specifically, CSO specialists and sectors of the opposition have pointed out that the law contradicts rights established under the Law on Access to Public Information and the Law on Access to Information about the Remuneration of Civil Servants and risks undermining transparency as it “could become a tool of arbitrary use to deny access to information of public interest”. The controversial Article 24 of the draft law establishes that access to information in public sources may be denied or limited with the opposition of the public official from whom information is requested, who has five working days to file an opposition to the request for access.
Following criticism, the Senate had modified Article 24 during its deliberations in August 2025 with the reformulated version establishing that access to public information could be denied “only when the damage caused to the protected interest is greater than the public interest in obtaining access to the information,” but leaving the evaluation of the case to the discretion of the corresponding state agency or entity. Despite these modifications in the Senate version, the Chamber of Deputies ratified the original version with the undue restrictions on access to information in place.
For the law to enter into force, it needs to be passed by the Senate and then approved by the Executive. Discussion at the Senate have recently been postponed. While the law is necessary to protect personal data and has undergone an extensive path of elaboration with contributions from civil society organizations, the warning about a reduction in transparency need to be heeded to protect the enabling environment and it will be up to the Executive Branch to consider this once it is sanctioned by Congress.
- Las amplias categorías de organizaciones sujetas a la ley, definidas como todas aquellas que reciben fondos públicos y privados nacionales o internacionales y que participan en políticas públicas, entendidas, entre otras definiciones, como aquellas acciones públicas «(…) que contribuyen, influyen o tienen un impacto directo en la aprobación de normativas de alcance general
- El control excesivo del Estado sobre las organizaciones sin fines de lucro (OSFL), con requisitos de registro duplicados y sanciones severas por incumplimiento.
- Un lenguaje vago y ambiguo que deja margen para interpretaciones amplias y abusos, lo que podría amenazar la independencia operativa de las OSC.
- Riesgos para la privacidad y la seguridad de las personas que forman parte de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil, así como de aquellas a las que apoyan.
- La ley también puede disuadir a los medios de comunicación de criticar al gobierno, dada la posibilidad de que se apliquen medidas punitivas.
- Se prevé que la incertidumbre normativa y el entorno restrictivo que crea la ley tengan un efecto paralizante sobre la sociedad civil y desalienten a los donantes internacionales a participar en Paraguay.