An alliance of eight Mexican media outlets, including opposition ones, and civil society groups is now courting potential whistleblowers with a new digital platform that promises to protect the anonymity of sources with the help of sophisticated encryption software.
Radio MVS presenter Carmen Aristegui was fired on Sunday for participating in MexicoLeaks alliance to gain anonymous information to expose state corruption.
Arestegui has won large audiences thanks to her critical monologues and a string of high-profile investigations, including the revelation that a favored government contractor had paid for a multimillion-dollar modernist white mansion that was built to measure for the family of President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The “white house scandal” remains unresolved, feeding a deep credibility crisis neither the president nor the government appear willing to seriously address.
The attack on Aristegui’s team prompted a protest outside the station’s offices denouncing censorship on Thursday night. It also triggered an online petition that obtained over 100,000 signatures by the time Aristegui described the situation as “a battle for our freedom” during her show on Friday.
MexicoLeaks describes its mission as the construction of a “Transparent Mexico”, and participants say they hope it will help them document political corruption, human rights abuses and other misuses of institutional and economic power.
