‘Twitter terrorists’ face 30 years after being charged in Mexico
Jo Adetunji for The Guardian, with contributions from news agencies:
A man and a woman are facing 30-year prison terms in Mexico for allegedly using Twitter to spread panic over a series of child kidnappings.
Gilberto Martinez Vera, 48, a private school teacher, and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola, a radio presenter, were accused of spreading false reports that gunmen were attacking schools in the south-eastern city of Veracruz.
The resulting panic caused dozens of car crashes after parents rushed to save their children from schools across the city and jammed emergency telephone lines, which “totally collapsed” under the pressure.
The prosecution was possibly overzealous (terrorism?), and lawyers for both people argued that they were just repeating rumors and didn’t start them, but this whole thing is still fucked up. Twenty-six car accidents.