The Committee to Protect Journalists, International Press Institute, and Reporters Without Borders, led a coalition of eight press freedom organizations in a joint statement calling for the rejection of Puerto Rico’s Senate Bill 63, which would severely limit the territory’s constitutional right to access public information, one of the strongest in the United States.
If enacted, the amendment to the Transparency and Expedited Procedure for Access to Public Information Act would double response times for information requests, allow information to be classified without judicial review, eliminate privacy protections for information requesters, and end requirements for open data formats.
The Puerto Rican Senate swiftly passed the bill in October without holding public hearings. The House of Representatives approved the bill in mid-November, and now Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón must sign or veto it by January 4, 2026.
Read the full statement here.