Mexican Journalists Team Up to Fight Corruption With MéxicoLeaks
By Andrew Potts, Marketing –
Media groups united to form MéxicoLeaks, a site where citizens can give tips about potential corruption.
“Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love.” (Julian Assange)
In 2014 alone, three major corruption scandals rocked Mexico. First, journalists revealed President Enrique Pena Nieto’s $7 million home was under the name of the same contractor to whom Pena Nieto awarded billions of dollars in contracts while he was governor of the State of Mexico. Second, six members of the military are being charged with the mass killing of 22 young people in Tlatlaya. Third, the government of Guerrero was involved in the abduction and killing of 43 college students.
In light of these recent scandals, along with the high levels of corruption Mexico already experiences, Mexican journalists have banded together to create MéxicoLeaks. MéxicoLeaks allows citizens to anonymously submit incriminating documents, information, data sets and photos. These submissions are then investigated and fact-checked by journalists before being published. So far, MéxicoLeaks includes two civil society organizations and six media outlets, including the weekly magazine Proceso and the website Animal Político.
While a noble endeavor, MéxicoLeaks is already facing some serious logistical issues. These journalists are not accustomed to cooperating with other media organizations. In addition, Mexico doesn’t have a lot of experience with privacy tools such as encrypted messages, which, if not done correctly, could result in a loss of anonymity among its users. Nevertheless, the founders of MéxicoLeaks are hopeful that it will bring transparency to the Mexican government and thereby improve the lives of Mexican citizens.
An additional tool to help improve transparency in government is the latest development in lie detection software, EyeDetect®. EyeDetect monitors pupil activity and can determine with 85 percent accuracy whether a person is lying. With the implementation of EyeDetect and MéxicoLeaks, the Mexican government will have no choice but to improve its transparency and reduce its corruption levels.
