Silvatech calls for safeguards before Belize extends broadcast regulation to online speech

BELIZE CITY, Belize - July 23, 2026 - Silvatech, a Belize-based AI and software engineering company, is calling for a rights-respecting revision of the Draft Broadcasting Bill, 2026 released for public distribution on July 16.

Belize has legitimate reasons to modernize a law written for an earlier media era. Copyright enforcement, emergency communications, transparent licensing for traditional broadcasters, and investment in Belizean content are valid public goals. The current draft, however, reaches much further than radio, television, and commercial streaming platforms.

Clause 2 defines broadcasting to include transmission through the world wide web. Clauses 5 and 6 create a licence category for national online broadcasters and make exemption something an online broadcaster must apply to the Authority to receive. The draft does not place objective revenue or audience thresholds in the Act. Instead, it leaves the criteria to be prescribed later and permits the Authority to consider any other factor it considers relevant to the public interest.

“Modernizing broadcast law is legitimate. Licensing lawful online expression by default is not a minor technical update; it changes the relationship between citizens and the state. Belize should regulate demonstrated harms with clear rules, not make creators ask permission to speak.”

Digital speech is ordinary economic infrastructure

This is not a niche question for media companies. The Statistical Institute of Belize's 2024 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey snapshot reports that 81.3% of households had internet at home and 93.4% owned a mobile phone. Belizeans use online channels to market services, teach, report news, discuss politics, reach customers, and earn income.

A licensing regime that can capture online creators, podcasters, live streams, and Belize-focused digital outlets therefore affects much more than broadcasting. It can raise the cost of entry, encourage self-censorship, and make lawful participation depend on administrative discretion.

The provisions that need revision

The risk comes from how several powers combine. Clause 34 contemplates standards based on concepts such as public morality, potentially offensive material, the convictions and beliefs of the audience, and the highest professional and ethical standards. Those terms may have a place in a carefully bounded code for licensed broadcasters, but they are too open-ended to govern ordinary online expression without clearer statutory limits.

Clause 20 permits administrative penalties of up to $10,000. Clause 28 states fines of up to $50,000 for some offences and up to $100,000 for conduct described in subsection 28(3). Clause 24 permits the Authority to seek court orders for domain, IP-address, and dynamic blocking, as well as disclosure of user identity data.

Judicial authorization and proportionality language in clause 24 are important safeguards. They should be strengthened with notice, adversarial hearings, narrow content-level remedies, expiry dates, and transparent reporting. The 2026 Joint Declaration on Children's Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age warns that even good-faith efforts to restrict children's access to the digital environment can disproportionately limit expression and access to information. It says limitations should comply with international human-rights standards.

Independent oversight is a design requirement

Schedule I gives the Minister appointment power over all seven members of the Authority's Board and the power to appoint its Chairperson. Clause 36 also permits the Authority, with ministerial approval, to amend the schedules governing the Board and Appeals Tribunal. Clause 12 removes an appeal to the Tribunal where a licensing or penalty decision is said to be necessary for national security.

This is not an allegation of misconduct by any official or drafter. It is an institutional-design concern. A body empowered to license speakers, investigate complaints, impose penalties, and initiate blocking proceedings should be structurally independent of day-to-day political control. Its decisions should remain reviewable regardless of which administration holds office.

Section 12 of the Belize Constitution protects the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and communicate ideas and information without interference, subject to reasonable limits. The UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 34 states that restrictions must not be overbroad and must be necessary and proportionate. Those tests should be visible in the Bill itself.

Six safeguards Silvatech is asking Belize to adopt

A better consultation process

Silvatech asks the Government and the Belize Broadcasting Authority to publish a clause-by-clause response to stakeholder submissions, release a redline of the next draft, and allow a fresh public-comment period after material revisions. A human-rights and digital-economic-impact assessment should accompany the Bill before it reaches the National Assembly.

Creators, small businesses, media houses, civil society, technologists, educators, the Bar, and the public should each have a practical opportunity to test how the law would apply to real online activity. Good regulation should be understandable before a person needs a lawyer to learn whether a Facebook Live, podcast, or sponsored video requires a licence.

“Belize can protect copyright, children, public safety, and local culture without building a permission system for lawful digital speech. The standard should be precise law, independent oversight, due process, and the least restrictive remedy.”

About Silvatech

Silvatech is an AI and software engineering company based in Belize City. The company builds production software, AI-assisted workflows, WhatsApp systems, and digital products for organizations in Belize and abroad. Silvatech is an Official Meta Tech Provider and a Member of the OpenAI Partner Network.