Anonymous has targeted a Mexican drug cartel after that group, Los Zetas, allegedly kidnapped one of its members in Veracruz. In a video released on October 6, the group “claimed that they would release the names of journalists, taxi drivers and others who have worked with Los Zetas in the past” according to Foreign Policy. They also threatened to include the addresses of the collaborators on November 5.
The Guardian posted a translated version of the Spanish-language video. (See the original embedded after the jump.)
Updated below the fold.
The idea that social media independents are not journalists is an idea the criminal cartels do not share. Nor for that matter do the people of Mexico, who have turned to Twitter to get information on cartel violence, information the traditional press rarely reports any more for well-founded fear of retaliation.
In September, cartel goons killed and hung a man and woman from a bridge. The two had used social media to report on gang violence in the city of Nuevo Laredo on the border with Texas. A sign hung with the mutilated bodies said, “This is going to happen to all the Internet snitches (Frontera al Rojo Vivo, Blog Del Narco, or Denuncia Ciudadano). Be warned, we’ve got our eye on you. Signed, Z.” Another said, “Nuevo Laredo en Vivo and social networking sites. I’m The Laredo Girl, and I’m here because of my reports, and yours.”
Que Dios los bendiga, los bloggers de México.
Update: According to the Mexican newspaper Milenio (via Talking Points Memo), some alleged members of Anonymous, including Skill3r and Glyniss Paroubek, are disavowing this operation. Others, including @AnonymouSabu, insist it is still on.
