| Mexicans cartels have adopted a new technique in | | | | general public. The cartels don't just use the |
| avoiding military raids and police checkpoints; using | | | | networks to communicate with each other but also |
| Facebook and Twitter. The social networking sites | | | | spread fear amongst local communities. A recent |
| have been on the radar of government officials who | | | | incident involved the town of Reynosa being |
| believe it has been used to facilitate the abduction of | | | | terrorized by members of a cartel spreading |
| the relatives of powerful businessmen and politicians, | | | | messages through the town which has been bloodied |
| as kidnappers are allegedly using the social | | | | with drug gang activity. One such message read; |
| networking sites to identify the families of a high | | | | "The largest scheduled shootout in the history of |
| profile individual and monitoring their daily activity. | | | | Reynosa will be tomorrow or Sunday, send this |
| Ordinary citizens have already angered the | | | | message to people you trust that tomorrow a |
| government by using twitter to alert one another of | | | | convoy of 60 trucks full of cartel hit men from the |
| the locations of breathalyzer checkpoints via | | | | Michoacan Family together with members of the Gulf |
| '@anitaa_df' and now use of the site has expanded | | | | Cartel are coming to take the city and take |
| to drug dealers. | | | | everyone out alive or dead!" |
| Mexican security expert Ghaleb Krame says, "Twitter | | | | The use of social networking in Mexico is to be |
| is a serious problem not only to Mexican | | | | closely regulated and monitored after a bill has been |
| law-enforcement agencies but to any law or | | | | drafted by the government. Sharing information that |
| intelligence agencies all over the world, because | | | | helps others break the law or avoid it a criminal act |
| criminals, drug cartels and terrorist cells are getting | | | | under the new bill. The bill will not target the social |
| more sophisticated in their methods of | | | | media companies themselves only the users of the |
| communication." | | | | networks. The bill has been controversial in Mexico |
| Organised Crime has made use of Twitter and other | | | | and many users have slammed the legislation as an |
| social networks to communicate with one another | | | | excuse to act as Big Brother. |
| through keywords that don't mean anything to the | | | | |