US EditionMexico Probes Cartel-Linked Accounts Spreading Fake News After El Mencho Killing
Cartels used coordinated social media campaigns and AI-generated misinformation to exaggerate violence after El Mencho's death, with authorities identifying multiple fake accounts.
- On Sunday, Mexican forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as `El Mencho`, after a shootout in Guadalajara, Jalisco, leaving nearby towns marked by smoke and charred vehicles.
- Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla said authorities tracked a romantic partner to his hideout, leading to a raid where `El Mencho` and two bodyguards were wounded and died en route to Mexico City.
- A day after the operation, civilians faced travel disruption as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel erected more than 250 roadblocks across 20 states, with over 1,000 stranded overnight in Guadalajara zoo and 25 Mexican National Guard members killed.
- Mexican Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said authorities identified various accounts and will investigate which have direct links to organized crime as false reports spread claiming Guadalajara airport was seized and a plane was on fire.
- Researchers caution it is hard to attribute accounts, while Jane Esberg, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said `They are trying to show that the Mexican government doesn't have control over the country` amid AI-generated content and narco influencers in recent years.
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54 Articles
Associated Press News
Online disinformation fueled panic after the killing of Mexico's most powerful drug lord
Mexico’s government says a surge of online disinformation has amplified cartel violence and spread panic since the death of the country's most powerful drug lord.
At least 500 vehicles have been set on fire since members of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel reacted violently on Sunday to the capture and death of their leader Nemesio El Mencho Oseguera, said the secretary of public security, Juan Pablo Hernández. In turn, the governor of Nayarit, Miguel Ángel Navarro, reported that 171 burned units and five people arrested were documented that day, in addition to two attackers killed.
The fall of Nemesio Oseguera, alias El Mencho, leader of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), was followed not only by a wave of violence and chaos in the country, but also by a digital misinformation. In the 48 hours following the Army-led operation in Jalisco, hundreds of false or unverified publications circulated on different platforms.
U.S. officials, including the Czar Anti-Drugs, Zara Carter, attended two meetings in Mexico after an operation against "El Mencho"
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