The continued move to a more and more authoritarian state in Venezuela continues.

Via the BBC:  Venezuelan parliament votes to tighten internet rules

Under the bill, online messages inciting hatred, or political and religious intolerance, are banned.

The new law also prohibits contents which is deemed to disrespect public officials.

Heaven forbid that someone might disrespect a public official.

I must confess, I am missing the connecting logic in the following:

Under the new rules, providers of online contents and internet portals could be fined if images or messages appearing on their sites "disrespect public authorities, incite or promote hatred or create anxiety in the citizenry or alter public order".

President Chavez says the law will shield citizens from messages promoting drug use, prostitution and other crimes.

Perhaps this law will stop people from asking public officials if their mothers are prostitutes? 

Meanwhile, also via the BBC:  Venezuela students protest at university law

Venezuelan police have used water cannon and rubber bullets to break up a protest against a law that increases government control over universities.

[…]

The new law "imposes socialism as the sole ideology and does away with university autonomy because it concentrates all powers in the minister for higher education", the university’s student federation leader, Diego Scharifker, told the Associated Press news agency.

The government says the law makes universities more democratic by giving university workers, as well as students and teachers, a say in how they are run.

One university worker, Carlos Lopez, said the law would break the control of education by Venezuela’s "oligarchy" and make universities truly autonomous.

Part of what is going on here:

A new National Assembly, with many more opposition members, will be sworn in on 5 January.

The opposition has accused Mr Chavez of rushing laws through to increase his hold on power and avoid proper parliamentary scrutiny.

Last week the assembly gave Mr Chavez special powers to pass laws by decree for 18 months to deal with the aftermath of devastating floods.