The Federal Authority for Audiovisual Communication Services (Spanish: ''Autoridad Federal de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual'', AFSCA) was an agency of the

government of Argentina The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. ...

with the power to regulate television and radio services. It began activities on December 10, 2009, two months after the passage of the Law 26,522 of Audiovisual Communications Services (Ley de Medios), and replaced the Federal Broadcasting Committee (Comité Federal de Radiodifusión, COMFER). Its former director was Martín Sabbatella.

Composition

The AFSCA was led by a seven-member board, consisting of the following: *1 president and 1 director named by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. *3 directors nominated by parliamentary committee, each representing one of the top three parliamentary blocs. *2 directors nominated by the Federal Council for Audiovisual Communication; one of these had to be an academic in the fields of information sciences, communications or journalism from a national university.

History

The first predecessor to AFSCA was CONART, the National Radio and Television Commission, which came into being in 1957 under the government of

Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti (May 21, 1903 – June 1, 1970) was an Argentine Army general. He was a major figure behind the '' Revolución Libertadora'', the military coup against Juan Perón in 1955. He became dictator of Argentina, serving ...

Federal Broadcasting Committee

The Federal Broadcasting Committee (Comité Federal de Radiodifusión, COMFER) was formed with the National Telecommunications Law (Law 19,798), passed in 1972 during the ''de facto'' presidency of

Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Alejandro Agustín Lanusse (August 28, 1918 – August 26, 1996) was the ''de facto'' president of the Argentine Republic between March 22, 1971, and May 25, 1973, during the military dictatorship of the country called the "Argentine Revolution" ...

. When the National Broadcasting Law (Law 22,285) was passed in 1980 during the military government of

Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

, COMFER retained its status as regulator. From 1980 until 2009, COMFER was run by various managers and directors, each of them named by the president. Law 22,285 specified a governing board consisting of representatives from the army, navy and air force, the secretaries of public information and communications, and representatives of the trade associations for radio and television.

AFSCA

AFSCA was formed in 2009 after the passage of Law 26,522. It had the power to award television licenses, regulate programming and sanction violators with fines. On September 17, 2012, President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...

tapped Martín Sabbatella, a former member of the Chamber of Deputies and one-time

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

Morón, Buenos Aires Morón () is a city in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, capital of the Morón ''partido'', located in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, at . Located 20 km (13 mi) west of Downtown Buenos Aires, Morón is easily reac ...

, to head up the agency. Sabbatella took the post on October 1. In December 2015, new president

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...

placed AFSCA under the direction of the Ministry of Communications and combined it with AFTIC, the Federal Authority for Information and Communications Technologies, as the

Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones The National Communications Entity ( es, Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones, mostly known by its acronym ENACOM) is the national communications and media regulator of Argentina. It was created by a presidential decree in 2016 and combines the form ...

(National Communications Entity, ENACOM). The combined agency was initially run by Miguel De Godoy, former secretary for media in Buenos Aires.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 2009 establishments in Argentina 2016 disestablishments in Argentina Government agencies established in 2009 Government agencies disestablished in 2016 Government agencies of Argentina Television in Argentina Communications authorities Mass media regulation Mass media complaints authorities Consumer organisations in Argentina Regulation in Argentina