Two Mexican Citizens Facing Terrorist Charges, 30 Years for Twitter Rampage
September 7, 2011 by admin
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Gilberto Martinez Vera and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola (Source: tumblr.com)
Human rights groups and civil liberties advocates have started speaking out, saying that the charges are “exaggerated”
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Social
networking has undoubtedly become a popular part of the Web experience, with
Facebook nabbing 750 million users alone. But at times, social networking can
prove to be problematic. For instance, Britain blamed social media for its class riots that occurred last
month saying that the riots were too easily organized via the free flow of
information. One week later, two UK men were arrested for attempting to provoke riots through the use of Facebook and found guilty,
which led to a four-year prison sentence for each.
Now, Mexico is having similar problems with social media — except its
citizens’ attempts to cause chaos did not fail.
Gilberto Martinez Vera, a 48-year-old former school teacher who lives in the
eastern state of Veracruz, and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola, a former government
official and radio commentator, have been accused of terrorism after they
separately posted false information on their Twitters about kidnappings and
shootouts near schools in Veracruz.
On August 25, 2011, Martinez Vera
posted a tweet that claimed five children were kidnapped
from a school in Veracruz according to the BBC.
“I can confirm this, at the Jorge Arroyo school in the Carranza district,
five children have been taken away by an armed group,” said Martinez
Vera’s tweet. “Total psychosis in the area.”
Martinez Vera added that this confirmation came from his sister-in-law, who had
children that attended the school.
That very same day, Bravo Pagola used her Twitter and Facebook to re-tweet and
post the messages respectively, which said that a helicopter had opened fire at
another school in the area.
As it turns out, none of the above-mentioned events were true. There were no
kidnappings or shootings occurring at any of the schools in the area at that
time. But the tweets didn’t just come out of nowhere — the city was already on
edge after weeks of gun battles between drug traffickers. Then, on August 25,
residents saw armed convoys of marines gathering in the streets of Veracruz,
leading to the rumors.
But that didn’t stop citizens from panicking. According to Gerardo Buganza,
interior secretary for Veracruz state, people stopped their vehicles in the
middle of the road to run and pick up their children, thinking that their
children were in danger. There were 26 total car accidents in the midst of the
chaos, and emergency numbers had “totally collapsed” from the amount
of traffic from callers.
Buganza said the panic caused by these tweets and Facebook posts made the panic
caused by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of “The War of the
Worlds” seem small in comparison.
Both Martinez Vera and Bravo Pagola were arrested. According to President
Felipe Calderon, their actions were an act of terrorism. They could face up to
30 years in prison.
Both citizens were outraged. Martinez Vera said that the panic had already
started before he posted his tweet, and that he was just repeating what his
sister-in-law had already confirmed. Bravo Pagola reacted similarly, saying she
merely re-tweeted what everyone else was already saying on the social networks.
“How can they possibly do this to me, for re-tweeting a message?”
said Claribel Guevara, Bravo Pagola’s defense lawyer, who was quoting her
client. “I mean, it’s 140 characters. It’s not logical.”
Human rights groups and civil liberties advocates have started speaking out,
saying that the charges are “exaggerated.” Petitions are circulating
around the Web to demand release of the accused.
According to Amnesty International, officials are violating freedom of expression by arresting both of the accused on
account of terrorism, and that the drug war is to blame instead.
“The lack of safety creates an atmosphere of mistrust in which rumors that
circulate on social networks are part of people’s efforts to protect
themselves, since there is very little trustworthy information,” Amnesty
International wrote in a statement.
Raul Trejo, an expert on media and violence at the National Autonomous
University of Mexico, agreed saying that the government has done a poor job of
preventing drug cartel violence and that it “doesn’t make clear what is
happening” in the midst of media rumors.
While some feel that terrorism isn’t the correct charge for this situation, and
that both citizens are being punished for using Twitter to express opinions
about the state’s current affairs, Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa feels
that the punishment is necessary and appropriate.
“The punishment for those who caused damages is not because they are
Twitter users, but for the consequences that their irresponsible acts
provoked,” said Duarte de Ochoa.
