Online safety & content laws in Bolivia (2026)

Bolivia promulgated Law 1636, adding five new offences to the Penal Code, grooming, digital sexual harassment, indecent contact, production of child sexual abuse material, and its distribution/sale online, with sentences of 10-15 years. It is Bolivia's most comprehensive child online-safety legislation to date.

Bolivia's Senate passed bill CS No. 206/2024-2025, adding 'digital violence against women' as a standalone criminal offence with 1-3 years imprisonment for non-consensual sharing of sexual content via any digital platform, amending Law 348. The bill then moved to the Chamber of Deputies for final approval.

MAS Deputy Juan José Huanca introduced Bill PL-304 proposing 5-7 year prison sentences for 'misuse' of social networks, including spreading false information or defaming public officials online. After civil-society outcry over press freedom and evidence of plagiarised text, the bill was withdrawn in April 2023.

After the UN Human Rights Office and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) called for repeal, the Áñez government issued DS 4236, striking down the speech-criminalising provisions of DS 4231. The episode set a precedent that broad executive anti-disinformation decrees face international legal scrutiny.

Interim President Jeanine Áñez enacted DS 4231, making it a criminal offence (1-10 years) to disseminate information in any medium, including online, deemed to 'generate uncertainty or endanger public health.' Human Rights Watch, CPJ, and the IACHR condemned it as a tool to suppress digital criticism of the government.

Following the MAS ruling party's defeat in the February 2016 constitutional referendum, attributed partly to anonymous social media campaigns, a bill was formally presented in the Asamblea Legislativa to ban online anonymity, criminalise defamation of officials on social networks, and create a government office to monitor platforms. The bill failed to advance but established a recurring legislative pattern over the following years.

DS 1793 operationalised the ICT development mandate of Law 164, setting the regulatory basis for e-government, digital signatures, electronic documents, and free-software adoption. It established legal validity for online transactions and digital identity, underpinning Bolivia's early e-commerce and digital-services framework.

Bolivia enacted Law 348, creating broad legal protections against all forms of violence targeting women. Although originally focused on physical and psychological violence, Law 348 became the primary legal anchor for subsequent digital-violence provisions, with later bills explicitly amending it to cover online harassment, image-based abuse, and cyberstalking.

DS 1391 issued the operational framework for the ATT's oversight of telecommunications and internet services, covering spectrum licensing, consumer rights, broadband infrastructure, and service-quality obligations. It remains the primary secondary legislation governing internet service provision in Bolivia.

Law 164 declared communication a fundamental human right, established the Authority for Regulation and Supervision of Telecommunications and Transport (ATT) as the sectoral regulator, and laid the legal framework for internet access, e-commerce, digital signatures, and e-government. It remains the cornerstone of Bolivia's ICT regulatory architecture.

Law 1768 inserted Chapter XI 'Computer Crimes' into the Bolivian Penal Code, creating Article 363 bis (computer manipulation for financial gain, 1-5 years) and Article 363 ter (unauthorised access or alteration of computer data). Enacted before widespread internet use, these two articles remain Bolivia's only specific cybercrime provisions in the Penal Code and are widely criticised as inadequate against modern threats such as ransomware, phishing, and DDoS attacks.