Editor. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) reports in its annual report that the Mexican State News Agency (Notimex) has orchestrated defamatory campaigns against journalists through social networks.
The report is found in the section on Freedom of Expression and Assembly in the Mexico chapter, among the human rights violations in the country.
"In May, there were reports that Notimex, the state news agency, was involved in a defamatory campaign against several journalists and media outlets that published content critical of the government," the agency said in its 2020/21 report, released Wednesday.
"In May there was news that Notimex, the state news agency, was involved in a defamatory campaign against several journalists and media outlets that published content critical of the government," the document, released Wednesday, said.
In its 2020/21 report, the agency reports that the campaign included a network of bot programs and fake social media accounts allegedly financed with public funds.
Just a week ago, the U.S. State Department also included the case in the chapter dedicated to Mexico in its annual report on human rights.
The document accuses Sanjuana Martínez, director of Notimex, of orchestrating a series of actions that threaten freedom of expression.
Section 2 of the report, Respect for Civil Liberties, which includes freedom of expression, states that Sanjuana Martínez Montemayor ordered journalists to remove or not publish content about certain institutions and government officials.
The above, he said at the time, according to an investigation by the renowned media outlet Aristegui Noticias, the academic project Signa Lab and the international human rights organization of journalists Article 19, which has been characterized by its criticism of the governments of different parties that Mexico has had.
On March 31, 2021, President Obrador publicly attacked the organization Artículo 19 during his morning press conference. 164 organizations, along with 400 activists, collectives, and media outlets, condemned the president's remarks and expressed their support for Artículo 19.
Amnesty International explains in its annual report that threats, harassment and attacks against media workers continued during 2020, with at least 19 journalists killed during the year, according to official data available in November.
It also notes that in September a letter signed by 650 journalists and intellectuals accused President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of actions that affect freedom of expression, including a series of public statements that weakened the press by fostering an environment conducive to censorship, administrative sanctions and the misuse of the law to intimidate the press.
On the other hand, it details that, in the last year, the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists maintained protection measures in the country for 1,313 people, of which 426 were media workers.
However, in October, the federal government dissolved the trust fund that supported this protection mechanism, and its funds were transferred to the general public budget, according to the document.
On March 31, 2021, during his morning press conference, President Obrador attacked the organization Artículo 19 for pointing out that
