By Belize Live News Staff: If you broadcast online in Belize, a proposed new law has your name on it, and yes, that includes pages like this one, which we say plainly so you know exactly where we stand in this story.
The proposed Broadcasting Act, 2026, handed to stakeholders last week Thursday, would redraw the boundaries of Belize’s information landscape. The definition of broadcasting would stretch far beyond radio and television to capture internet-dependent digital platforms, streaming and Over-The-Top services, and National Online Broadcasters, the act’s term for online operations targeting Belizean audiences for commercial gain.
The practical consequence is spelled out in the framework: online outlets and content creators earning advertising or sponsorship money from Belizeans would need either an official licence or an explicit exemption from the Belize Broadcasting Authority. The regulatory vacuum, as the proposal sees it, closes.
So does every aunty going live from her kitchen need a licence? Not according to Attorney-at-Law Marissa Longsworth, who walked local media through the exemption logic. Once you broadcast online, you fall within the act, she explained, but whether you need a licence turns on prescribed criteria: the commercial benefit of the broadcast, the audience size, the availability and accessibility of the content, and how frequently you broadcast.
She offered herself as the example, going live to 900 Facebook friends on a private page, with 20 tuning in. The BBA, she said, would weigh the reach, the frequency, the sponsorships, and the access. “Is there a commercial benefit being derived from her online podcast? That is a consideration. How frequent does she broadcast? That is a consideration. Who has access to her broadcast? That is a consideration.”
Read together, the criteria sketch the dividing line: private, occasional, small-audience content on one side, and regular, revenue-earning, public-facing broadcasting on the other. It is the second group, the news pages, the podcasters, the streamers, the influencers with sponsors, that would enter the licensing world.
That is a profound shift for a country whose liveliest public square now sits online, and it demands scrutiny in equal measure. Clear, fairly applied rules could bring order and accountability to digital media. Vague or heavy-handed ones could chill the independent voices that Belizean democracy leans on, and the difference will live in the details now under stakeholder review.
The consultation is where those details get fought over, and creators, journalists, and ordinary users alike have skin in this game. The act is not yet law. The conversation about it starts now.
What do you think, Belize: should online broadcasters be licensed like radio and TV? Let us know in the comments.
