© AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File
Mexico's president vowed Thursday
to lead an international effort to combat what he considers censorship by social media companies that have blocked or suspended the accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration is reaching out to other government to form a common front on the issue.
"I can tell you that at the first G20 meeting we have, I am going to make a proposal on this issue," López Obrador said. "Yes, social media should not be used to incite violence and all that,
but this cannot be used as a pretext to suspend freedom of expression."
"How can a company act as if it was all powerful, omnipotent,
as a sort of Spanish Inquisition on what is expressed?" he asked.
Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico is starting to build an international campaign around the issue.
"Given that Mexico, through our president, has spoken out, we immediately made contact with others who think the same," Ebrard said, noting they had
heard from officials in France, Germany, the European Union, Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
"The president's orders are to make contact with all of them, share this concern and work on coming up with a joint proposal," Ebrard said. "We will see what is proposed."
Comment: It is more likely the social media heads had considered a number of dates to pull the erasure trigger and chose the one with the biggest impact at the most crucial time for maximum effect on the Trump administration and the public - politically, socially and emotionally. Mass exodus from technopoly becomes 'the power' of the people.