Scandal in Mexico: More cases of data leaks emerge, now involving the opposition presidential candidate

The candidate for the presidency of Mexico for an opposition coalition, Xóchitl Gálvez, denounced His phone number was released on social networkswhich represents a new case of data leak that affected several figures of the ruling party in Mexico.

Gálvez posted on the social network After the leak he started receiving hate mail. He ruled out, however, that he has any intention of changing his number, unlike some official leaders affected by the leaks, and invited his followers to send him messages.

“Among the messages I received They criticize my extra pounds and criticize my crooked teethS. Don’t worry, he’ll go away. What doesn’t disappear is the love for the hundreds of messages of support, encouragement and solidarity that have reached me. And they stay there,” she added.

The case of the candidate of the Fuerza y ​​Corazón por México coalition, made up of the National Action (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary (PRI) and Democratic Revolution (PRD) parties, occurs the day after José Ramón López Beltráneldest son of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and official candidate for president Claudia Sheinbaum They denounced the publication of their telephone numbers on social networks.

“The morning”

Those affected include the general coordinator of Social Communication of the Presidency, Jesús Ramírez; Mario Delgado and Citlalli Hernández, respectively national president and general secretary of the ruling Morena party, and the official deputy Gerardo Fernández Noroña, member of Sheinbaum’s electoral team.

The leaks come after the controversy generated after the daily conference of the López Obrador revealed the phone number of the New York Times chief correspondent in Mexico, Natalie Kitroeff. The incident led the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI), an autonomous body, to launch an investigation into the possible violation of the Personal Data Protection Act.

Kitroeff’s phone number was released last Thursday in the president’s daily conference, called “la mañanera”, in which López Obrador responded to a questionnaire sent to him by the American newspaper as part of its report on the alleged millionaire contributions from drug traffickers to people close to the president before the elections in 2018. The authorities US federal authorities investigated the alleged financing and subsequently dropped the case.

The White House, opponents and organizations that defend press freedom They attacked the disclosure of the number by the New York Times journalist.

López Obrador denied that his behavior was improper and assured him of it he was willing to release a reporter’s phone number againalthough this may violate data protection regulations.

“Above that law is moral authority and political authority, and I represent a country and I represent a people who deserve respect,” he said.

Adrián Alcalá, president commissioner of INAI, indicated on social networks on Saturday that the organization will exercise the powers of guarantee the right to protection of personal data in Mexico.

Fernández Noroña announced on Sunday that the Cyber ​​Police is already carrying out an investigation to identify who is responsible for the dissemination of the telephone numbers of López Beltrán and Sheinbaum.

YouTube removed the February 22 panel where Kitroeff’s issue was broadcast for “violation of community standards”the president reported in his X account.

López Obrador questioned the decision and said the platform has an “arrogant and authoritarian attitude” and is “in full decline.”