Bloggers targeted by gangs but say what they do is important
Online bloggers and social network users are becoming one of the biggest targets for gangs in Mexico.
Critics and news reporters have stated that cartels in the country's violent cities are moving away from threatening newspapers and television stations and are concentrating on online media sources, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Gangs recently took action against one female social media user who also worked for a local paper. She was killed for her actions in September, but bloggers at the time still urged people to speak out online.
The killing appeared to be the first documented case of a journalist in Mexico being killed for posting on a social media site, according to the committee to protect journalists based in New York, USA.
One blogger on the Borderland Beat blog, which anonymously covers cartel wars in Mexico, posted: "The incident has people spooked, but most of us are pressing on because what we do is too important."
Citizens and bloggers alike have said that they need to fight to fill in the gap in reporting left by traditional media, many of which could be on gang payroll schemes.
According to a New York Times blog, Twitter hashtags have an important role to play in reporting events in Mexico, turning connected reports by individual Twitter accounts into an ad hoc news service.
