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BY RICHARD LAYCOCK
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
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A Mexican man and a woman are facing up to 30 years in prison for what is being likened to an Orson Wellesian hoax. The pair posted messages on their respective Twitter accounts warning of gunman and kidnappings in their local schools of Veracruz.
“My sister-in-law just called me all upset, they just kidnapped five children from the school...”
In a country that is already on edge, it took little more than a cinder to ignite complete chaos.
"...there were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children ... the messages caused such panic that emergency numbers ‘totally collapsed because people were terrified,’ damaging service for real emergencies.”
Now- the duo faces jail time for terrorism charges. But does the punishment fit the crime? A panelist for CBS’ What’s Trending says- dumb stunt, but not an illegal stunt.
“I think what we need to remember about this story is that this actually isn’t a story about Twitter. This is a story about two idiots that did something dumb in Mexico and they used Twitter as their megaphone to do it. And I think it is unfair to call them out as Twitter terrorists.”
This incident has called into question how Mexican authorities handle freedom of expression issues. The Guardian says…
“Amnesty International accused officials of violating freedom of expression and instead blamed the panic on the city drug wars, in which 35,000 people are believed to have been killed in five years and which has seen people turning to social networks for information...”
Defense attorneys for Gilberto Martinez Vera and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola say the pair was just retweeting what others had already posted. A reporter for the LA Times notes...
“As drug-related fighting has increased in Veracruz in recent months...more citizens are turning to Twitter and Facebook to update one another on violent incidents. Social networking often fills a void left by largely silenced local news media...”
Martinez is a 47-year-old math teacher. Bravo is a 57-year-old journalist and radio commentator.
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