There's a Ton of Looting and Panic in Mexico and Fake News Is Making It Worse Avinash Pudota - Tech Featured
go to original January 7, 2017

A navy policeman takes pictures of a man man shot by unknown attackers in an area were looting was taking place in the port city of Veracruz (Felix Marquez/Associated Press)

False reports on Twitter and Whatsapp have heightened a state of anxiety in Mexico over widespread protests against a rise in gas prices, prompting the country’s cyber police force to open an investigation into more than 1,500 social media accounts.

“There is incitement that is being done deliberately to create panic,” Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera told Aristegui Noticias, a digital news site, on Thursday. During the interview, Mancera mentioned a viral Whatsapp voice note that cited several schools closed after rumors of a coup d’etat. (It is unclear if any schools actually closed due to the the reported rumor.) “We are on permanent alert,” he said.

Ominous voice recordings by anonymous sources and photographs of gun-toting protesters — one of which was later discovered to have been taken in Venezuela last year — have been widely shared in recent days. In another viral photograph, men run down a street which on closer look, is adorned by store signs in Arabic. Twitter bots have been rallying people to participate in the looting of stores.

The viral spread of fake news reports, a global trend that became especially hard to control during the recent US presidential election, have propagated real mayhem in Mexico. One policeman was fatally run over on Wednesday while trying to stop a group of people looting a gas station. Acts of vandalism have spread to 14 states and more than 400 stores have been looted or shut down across the country, according to the National Association of Supermarkets and Department Stores. In one video, people are seen carrying large flat-screen TVs out of a chain department store in the State of Mexico.

On Thursday, 987 people were arrested in connection to the protests, according to Animal Politico, a digital newspaper. The government palace in Monterrey, in northern Mexico, was defaced by a group of protesters; three people were injured.

Violent demonstrations, store lootings, and protester-erected roadblocks have erupted across the country for the past six days after gas prices jumped 15%. Most goods in the country will become more expensive as a result, even as economic growth forecasts for the country have been slashed.

Compounding fears of an economic meltdown in the country, the peso sank to a historic low after Ford announced it was scrapping plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico in response to pressure from President-elect Donald Trump. Last year, the peso became the second-worst performing currency in the world, losing more than 20% to the dollar, in part because of uncertainty relating to Trump’s impeding presidency.

“I know there’s a lot of worry and anger over this situation,” President Enrique Peña Nieto said during a televised speech on Thursday night, speaking about the oil price hike. Not raising prices would have led to cuts in social programs, he added. “What would you have done?” he asked rhetorically.

Fake news, meanwhile, continues to spread.

Read the rest at Tech Featured

Related: Mexico Gasoline Crisis: Protests, Looting and Rumors (Mexico Voices)

Related: Congressmen Call President Pena Nieto's Remarks on Gas Price Hike Irresponsible (El Universal)

Related: Mexico Gas Protests, Looting, Leave 6 Dead, 1,500 Arrested (teleSUR)

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