Authorities have initiated a series of actions to eradicate political gender-based violence. These are the most recent, and they have generated controversy due to the sanctions imposed, ranging from public apologies for several days on social media, listing those sanctioned in the registry of perpetrators, and issuing fines:
Tania Contreras López, current president-elect of the Tamaulipas Judicial Tribunal vs. EL UNIVERSAL and Héctor de Mauleón
Diana Karina Barreras Samaniego, federal deputy for the Labor Party vs. Karla María Estrella Murrieta, a citizen of Hermosillo, Sonora
Dora Alicia Martínez Valero, former candidate for minister vs. Aristegui Noticias and Germán Gómez
Layda Sansores, governor of Campeche vs. Jorge González Valdez, former director of the Tribuna website
Abelina López Rodríguez, mayor of Acapulco vs. Jesús Gabriel Castañeda Arrellano, director of the Facebook page Acapulco Trends
The entry into force of the “Law “Censorship” in Puebla, which allows content to be removed from any platform with a request and without judicial intervention.
Tania Contreras López, currently elected president of the Tamaulipas Judicial Tribunal, accused Héctor de Mauleón and EL UNIVERSAL of gender-based violence against her, for which the Electoral Institute of the same state ordered a fine and to list both on the registry of perpetrators.
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In addition, she ordered the removal of the column that was the subject of the complaint, “Huachicol and the Judiciary in Tamaulipas,” published on May 1, 2025, in which the journalist spoke about a corruption network in which Juan Carlos Madero Larios, Contreras López’s brother-in-law, participated.
“Madero is married to the sister of Tania Contreras López, who until a few days ago was legal advisor to the government of Américo Villarreal, considered Morena’s strongest candidate to win the presidency of the State Supreme Court of Justice,” the columnist explained.
Read also: The fuel theft column that unleashed it all; a chronology of the censorship attempt against Mauleón and EL UNIVERSAL
Diana Karina Barreras vs. Karla María Estrella Murrieta
Another case is that of Representative Diana Karina Barreras, who accused Karla María Estrella Murrieta, a citizen of Hermosillo, Sonora, of gender violence for making her political career invisible and attributing her achievements to her husband, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Sergio Gutiérrez Luna.
So the housewife tweeted: “Sergio Gutiérrez Luna’s tantrum was such that they had to derail the ticket to give him a candidacy. Zero evidence and zero doubts.”
Karla was sentenced to offer a 30-day apology on social media without mentioning the legislator’s name, so she writes daily:
“I apologize, PROTECTED DATA, for the message that was laced with symbolic, psychological, and interlocutory violence, digital, media, and analog, as well as discrimination based on gender stereotypes,” an incident that has sparked controversy.
Read also: Barreras accuses revictimization by being called “Protected Data”; “Freedom of expression is different from violence”
Dora Alicia Martínez Valero vs. Aristegui Noticias and Germán Gómez
On the other hand, Dora Alicia Martínez, former candidate for justice of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), accused Aristegui Noticias and Germán Gómez of slander and political gender violence.
In her complaint, although she did not accuse them, some people who replicated the information have been summoned by the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF), such as Laisha Wilkins, who expressed her concern about being targeted for a tweet:
“Haha, Dora the censor, haha,” she wrote on her X account, which earned her a notice at her home address. “I don’t understand how the defendant had my address or if this is something the Court normally does,” she complained.
Jorge González Valdez, former director of the Tribuna website in Campeche, was charged with “inciting hatred” against Governor Layda Sansores San Román.
The judge in the case ordered the closure of the outlet, a two-year ban on him from practicing journalism, and a fine. The journalist, with more than 50 years of experience, denounced the case as part of a strategy of political persecution promoted by the state government.
Abelina López Rodríguez vs. Acapulco Trends
The most recent case occurred in Acapulco, Guerrero. The State Electoral Court (CET) ruled to fine journalist Jesús Gabriel Castañeda Arellano, administrator of the Facebook page Acapulco Trends, and ordered him to publicly apologize for 15 consecutive days.
This was part of a proceeding for alleged political gender-based violence against the mayor of Acapulco, Abelina López Rodríguez. The outlet attributed the complaint to an attempt to silence her critical posts about the mayor’s performance and expose the alleged misappropriation of 898 million pesos.
“Censorship Law” in Puebla
This series of events is compounded by the recent approval by the Puebla Congress of the so-called “Censorship Law,” a reform to Article 480 of the state Penal Code that seeks to punish digital crimes such as cyberbullying and online espionage.
Although the measure was presented as a protection for citizens, the organization Article 19 warned that it imposes disproportionate restrictions on freedom of expression in the digital environment. Therefore, it asked the CNDH and its state counterpart to file a constitutional action to prevent the law from being used as a mechanism of censorship.
Clarifying note by Dora Martínez
Regarding the article published today on your website entitled “Campeche, Tamaulipas, and now Acapulco: Censorship spreads in Mexico; sanctions are issued with endless apologies, fines, and arrests,” I would like to make the following clarifications:
- The article mentions the case of Dora Martínez Valero, implying that this is an act of censorship similar to the other cases discussed. However, as she herself stated in an interview with her media outlet (“I don’t persecute journalists, I am a defender of freedom of expression”; my case is not like that of Héctor de Mauleón: Dora Martínez), at no point in the process has she requested the removal of content, but only the disassociation from expressions that constitute slander and political violence based on gender.
- The aforementioned publications baselessly question Dora Martínez Valero’s career and professional capabilities, claiming that her candidacy was the result of an imposition, in addition to distorting the content and original meaning of her complaint.
Source: eluniversal
