Journalist Claims Authorities Won’t Investigate Censorship by Mexico City Officials

Mexico City Governor Claudia Sheinbaum and spokeswoman Paulina Silva
Facebook Paulina Silva
Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby

A Mexican journalist claims federal authorities are refusing to investigate her complaints about intimidation and attempts at censorship by government officials in Mexico City. The allegations of censorship by high-ranking government officials come at a time when several press freedom organizations continue to label Mexico as one of the deadliest countries for journalists.

On Friday afternoon, journalist Stephanie Palacios took to social media to express her outrage at being turned away by federal authorities in Mexico who refused to investigate her claims about being the target of oppression and intimidation by the public affairs department of Mexico City. Palacios, most recently with Sputnik News, has been a journalist for more than 12 years working at multiple Mexican mainstream news outlets. Most recently, she made a name for herself as one of the reporters who continues to ask hard questions during the daily morning news conferences held by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The alleged incidents began in mid-November when Palacios published a tweet revealing that Paulina Silva, the director of press affairs for Mexico City’s Governor Claudia Sheinbaum, had been ignoring several emails for over a month.

Paulina Silva, Head of Press for Mexico City Governor Claudia Sheinbaum.

That tweet was promptly responded to by other Mexican journalists who claimed similar experiences with the same office.

Approximately ten days later, Palacios published another tweet claiming she had been contacted by Mexico City’s top officials trying to intimidate her. The officials said her news director needed to speak with Paulina Silva, the individual who handles all press affairs for Claudia Sheinbaum. Silva then told Palacios’ bosses to have her stop posting negative comments on social media or else.

In response to the intimidation, Palacios reached out to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office which referred her to the FEADLE, a unit devoted to investigating freedom of expression cases. However according to Palacios, when she arrived at FEADLE to file a complaint, agents there told her they could not do anything. They advised that, unlike other states, the practice of “censorship” was not listed as a crime in Mexico City. The public officials at the FEADLE turned Palacios away and told her to reach out to human rights groups.

As Breitbart Texas reported, multiple international press freedom groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Article 19 continue to label Mexico as one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists. Since the beginning of the year, Mexico recorded 16 cases of murdered journalists along with numerous cases of aggression, threats, and intimidation. As listed by various press freedom groups, many times the threats and intimidation against journalists come from government officials. Additionally, the widespread impunity that reigns over Mexico continues to fuel crimes against media workers.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.      

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