The next prey: the press
Two cases affecting freedom of expression have revealed their opposing sides: the symptom of what is to come, the attack on the press, the last dam of the authoritarian regime that is being built in Mexico, and the resistance of journalists despite the asymmetry of the forces they face. This is not a power struggle, but rather a struggle for freedoms. It is not a battle that unites citizens, because it is not in their interest, although they will be the most affected by living in an opaque and unaccountable society. The terms of this inevitable confrontation were outlined in Campeche and Puebla.
Governor Layda Sansores, widely known for her lack of boundaries, accused Jorge Luis González, former editor of the newspaper Tribuna, of slandering her and using hate speech and violence against her. A supervisory judge, Guadalupe Martínez Taboada, ignored the journalist's claim that the content she complained about was neither hers nor had she published it in the newspaper, which she left in 2017. She didn't care: she ordered him to stop practicing his profession for two years and not to publish anything, not even on social media. The Editorial Organization of the Southeast, which publishes Tribuna, was ordered to shut down its website, without a final ruling or hearing its defense arguments.
In Puebla, Governor Alejandro Armenta capped his first semester in power by attacking journalists and media outlets. He has insulted and threatened them by publishing a law on cybersecurity that his current advisory coordinator introduced as a deputy. This law criminalizes "cyberharassment." This law allows anyone to request the removal of digital content that they claim has been insulted, slandered, offended, or harmed with the "necessary insistence" to cause physical or emotional harm, without the need for a court order.
The Puebla Journalists' Network, which organized to confront Armenta's attacks, immediately denounced what has been dubbed the "Censorship Law," which went into effect on Sunday. Article 19 and the Inter-American Press Association joined the call, arguing that it poses a risk to freedom of expression by paving the way for anyone who wishes to silence journalistic reports and criticism of his administration. This new law, Article 19 recalled, is part of a growing pattern of judicial harassment, using the law to initiate criminal proceedings against journalists.
In the last five years, more journalists have settled complaints filed by Morena politicians and officials than, as far as memory goes, the total number of journalists in the past. There was certainly tension, hostility, and pressure to fire journalists, but these were targeted, even selective, not massive, against an entire profession and against individuals who, as a common denominator, share a critical attitude toward the government. As Andrés Manuel López Obrador encouraged from the National Palace, and President Claudia Sheinbaum is gradually beginning to do, intimidation through the instruments of power sought prior censorship and silence. With this, the end of accountability and counterbalance is achieved. If the strategy is carried out, the most harmed will be those who today view the ominous phenomenon with indifference and absolute disinterest.
We are walking a very fine line between harassment and political criticism, because with such ambiguous laws, their broad interpretation and application, journalists and media outlets are subject to subjectivity tailored to interests in order to silence them. These resources have already been used to bombard journalists with gender-based allegations, using it as a pretext so that, even as public servants, criticism is considered an attack on their gender. Few cases have come to fruition, more due to poor defenses than sound reasons, but with the new judiciary in the hands of the regime, these legal defenses are very likely to change.
The González case in Campeche is part of the persecution with which various regime officials have sought to silence their critics. In Puebla, without minimizing the existence of violent digital harassment, the legislation and its potential factional use, which seems to be in the governor's DNA, points to the criminalization of anyone exercising their constitutional right to express themselves and dissent. Censorship attempts in Tamaulipas against journalist Héctor de Mauleón and El Universal, as well as the Stalinist Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law of Claudín, are still ongoing.
Censorship no longer requires coups or disappearances. A penal code and a docile judge are enough. Silencing critical voices through ambiguous laws and servile prosecutors' offices, which are increasingly common, is a strategy of control. The law is far more expeditious in prosecuting critics than those who are corrupt or abuse their power. This regime is crafting laws in a country where impunity is the norm—which will increase in the coming months with the capture of the judiciary—and, as López Obrador systematically demonstrated and increasingly common under his successor, they are moving toward having them instrumentalized to protect their own.
In Campeche, the governor has said nothing. The harassed media outlets, and several of those killed during her administration, have had no national traction or support. In Puebla, the opposite happened, but the response is mockery. The governor asked Congress to review the "Censorship Law," but untimely: he ordered its publication in the official gazette. The Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, recommended its review, which is another farce. Since she is responsible for the country's domestic policy, her attention and interest should have been during the deliberations in the Puebla Congress, not when everything is already settled. It's the same ruse the President proposed yesterday. They can't claim to be innocent.
But even if internal and external pressure were effective, given the growing criticism of the regime for its authoritarian nature that is growing like daisies around the world, the message is clear: criticism has its costs, and can result in punishments that can destroy the professional and economic well-being of those who challenge it.
X: @rivapa_oficial
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