Venezuela is not planning to censor the web or to shut down social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, officials said, after President Hugo Chavez called for regulation of the Internet.

Opposition leaders, bloggers and media freedom groups are worried Chavez's socialist government is preparing to clamp down on the networking sites or install tight controls such as those used by Cuba, Iran and China.

Chavez last week said authorities should act against news and opinion site Noticerodigital after it published user comments claiming that a senior minister had been assassinated. He said the nation's laws must apply to the Internet.

The government is also planning to change the structure of the Internet in Venezuela by installing a unique connection point. It says such a system is more efficient and provides faster access, but critics worry it will lead to censorship.

A law introduced last year that would ban violent videogames and toys in Venezuela has now been enacted.

Under the law, importers, producers, distributors or sellers of the banned toys and games could face fines and jail time ranging from two to five years. In a story dated March 3, Prensa Latina reported that the law had been passed.

The law, when initially proposed to Venezuela's National Assembly, proposed that the country's consumer protection society be granted full power in determining what games and toys were deemed violent, though no indication was given into what criteria might be used to judge the goods.

As it was drawn up, the law also featured provisions for teaching crime prevention classes in school, public campaigns to warn about the dangers of videogames. A government campaign to promote games that taught children respect for an adversary was also included, though no word on if this, or any, additional provisions were a part of the new law.

The ban on violent games and toys is apparently seen as a way to somehow combat crime and violence in the country.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli has bben griping about Columbian telenovelas' bloody storylines. He has now  asked the country's parliament to consider setting up a censorship board to regulate TV content.

Martinelli singled out Colombian telenovelas in his rant to the media in late January.

These telenovelas are inflicting great damage to the moral fiber of our country, he declared in reference to Colombian titles El Capo, El Cartel, Las Munecas de la Mafia (Mafia Dolls) and Sin tetas no hay paraiso (Without Breasts There Is No Paradise). Latter is about young women who have breast implants to better attract wealthy drug runners.

In a meeting with media owners in late January, Martinelli warned that he would urge congress to pass a law if they did not self-regulate programming.

So far, all the networks have complied in pushing back their telenovelas to later hours.

Even in Colombia, there is a backlash among the intelligentsia against these telenovelas but ratings continue to rise.