Key members of Mexico’s drug cartels are using Twitter to recruit new members, threaten rival gangs, post violent images and videos, and glorify drug trafficking, the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO) reports. have been
What happened: Between 2012 and 2015, most of these bloodthirsty accounts were banned by Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council. Then along came Elon Musk, Tesla TSLA and CEO of Twitter who, in His righteous defense of the First Amendment nullified the security policy and reinstated previously suspended cartel accounts.
Several racist rants and sneers also appeared on Twitter soon after. acquisition of oysters, An epithet used to attack black people, which will not be repeated here, was blasted more than 26,000 times across Twitter within days of Musk. Bought platform for $ 44 billion,
And now Mexican cartels are sharing graphic material such as a video posted by a member of the Jalisco New Generation cartel showing the severed heads of rival gang members being thrown into a bonfire.
the infamous rené arzate garcía, a member of El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartelis using it Twitter account To taunt officers by posting his “Wanted by the FBI” poster as his header image.
accoa non-profit alliance Several organizations researching online crimes including drug trafficking, child sexual abuse and financial romance scams are urging Twitter to block and remove narco content and suspend accounts promoting it. The report of the organization came out after four days americans were kidnapped and two were murdered by the Gulf Cartel in northern Mexico.
Dr. Nilda Garcia, ACCO report author and political science professor at Texas A&M International University, told BuzzFeed News, “Social media is a tool that benefits and strengthens drug cartels by increasing organizational and operational capabilities. “
“These communication outlets provide prime opportunities for drug cartels to not only engage in public relations strategies, gain legitimacy, incite fear, and recruit, but also facilitate a diversification of criminal activities, including extortion, Drug sales and human trafficking are involved online,” Garcia said.
Under Musk’s leadership, the reports It has been noted that Twitter’s efforts to remove this content and block these accounts have fallen short. According to the report, some of Musk’s actions – such as firing more than 70% of Twitter’s employees, including content moderators – have exacerbated the problem.
Photo: Twitter account of René Arzate Garcia