Digital Violence in Mexico and the Ley Olimpia, Digi Mart USA News (Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico): A conference titled “Ley Olimpia: Violencia Digital, lo Virtual es Real” is scheduled to be held today by activist Olimpia Coral Melo Cruz at the auditorium of the Teatro “Amalia G. de Castillo Ledón.” According to the publisher, digital violence persists in the country, citing the most recent reports from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
INEGI reports indicate that 20.4% of people who use the internet have suffered some form of cyberharassment, particularly those who use the WhatsApp platform. The Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) reports that one in four adolescents in Mexico has experienced cyberharassment, identity theft, or received sexual messages or proposals from peers or adults.
The talk will address Melo Cruz’s experience at age 18, when her former partner distributed a private sexually explicit video without her consent. The disclosure affected her both within her family and socially.
With the support of her mother and a group of friends, she presented an initiative in 2014 to the Local Congress of Puebla to recognize digital violence and penalize with up to six years in prison those who share intimate material online without consent. The proposal became law in 2018.
The Ley Olimpia was later adopted at the federal level in April 2021, after reforms to the Federal Penal Code and the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence. Despite these legal changes, the publisher notes that digital violence and cyberharassment persist, particularly with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, which young people reportedly use to place classmates’ faces on sexualized bodies with obscene messages.
The conference was reportedly invited by the head of the Secretariat of Women, Marcia Benavides Villafranca. In a separate item, the state leader of Morena, Guadalupe Gómez Núñez, known as Lupita Núñez, announced that under instructions from the National Elections Commission, led by Citlalli Hernández Mora, only six candidates for municipal coordinations, three women and three men, will participate in telephone polls.
Núñez said up to 15 candidates have registered in the municipality of Victoria, making a screening necessary, without specifying when the polls would take place or which company would conduct them.
Among women candidates in Victoria, the publisher says local deputies Blanca Anzaldúa Nájera and Katalyna Méndez Cepeda, along with Victoria Welfare Secretary Lorena Zapata Medina, have promoted themselves the most. Among men, eight additional aspirants are reportedly registered, and the publisher reports that Hugo Reséndez Silva, Luis Eduardo García Reyes and Luis Gerardo Illoldi Reyes appear likely to be selected.
The publisher adds that other aspirants may seek candidacies with other parties, such as Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) or Partido Somos (PS).
