Responding to the risk many journalists run for practicing their profession in Mexico, two states are advancing legislative proposals to protect—or, according to critics of one case, restrict—the work of the press.
In Michoacán, a proposal known as "Mauricio's Law," born from the collective effort of reporters and activists following the murder of journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís in October 2024, seeks to criminalize hate speech against the press and step up protection mechanisms. In Puebla, a bill introduced by a legislator without prior consultation with press professionals has sparked a backlash from journalists and experts.
The two projects, which emerged independently, present different responses to the same national problem: what is the best way to guarantee the safety and freedom of journalists in a country where four journalists have already been murdered this year—and where, last year, eight were killed? The different contexts between Michoacán and Puebla reveal common challenges in crafting effective legislation and in how to pass and enforce it. The case of Puebla also reveals the risk of political instrumentalization, using the threat of protection as an excuse for political control, according to critics of the initiative.
In Michoacán, the initiative is led by local journalists from the collective Ni Uno Más (Not one more). The Mauricio Law provides for changes to the state Penal Code and the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists of Michoacán. One of the main points is the inclusion of hate speech against journalists as an aggravating factor in discrimination crimes. It also proposes eliminating legal provisions used to persecute journalists, such as the crime of "attacks on honor," still in force in the state.
Ni Uno Más has counted 14 journalists murdered and four disappeared in Michoacán since 2006. The initiative focuses on the state because its members live there, and they say they believe they can have a more concrete impact.
"Our chances of making this happen are more feasible right now at the local level than if we went to the federal level," Patricia Isabel Monreal, spokesperson for the group, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). "And let's just say it's a first step."
Monreal highlights the role of political leaders in stigmatizing the press in the region. She accuses the current mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo (independent), of being one of the most forceful aggressors.
"Manzo has been generating hate speech against journalists in the region in a very significant way,” she said. “Our colleague Mauricio, who was murdered on Oct. 29, had been the target of this hate speech and multiple accusations. After his murder, this incident had no impact on the mayor's position, and he kept the same messaging."
The murder happened minutes after Mauricio Cruz Solis interviewed Manzo. The case, which shocked the local community, prompted the creation of the legislative proposal. Following the crime, which has yet to be solved, the mayor requested federal intervention in the investigation.
The collective presented the proposal to the Michoacán Legislative Assembly in early April. The group is aware of the political obstacles: "The representatives have no idea; they're more interested in their own political issues,” Monreal said. “Many didn't even know that Mauricio had been murdered, or that Mayor Carlos Manzo maintains this hate speech. We made it clear to them that they have three months to issue their opinion, and also that if they haven't done so within that time, we'll return."
LJR reached out to Carlos Manzo’s office for comment but received no response as of publication.
Contacted by LJR, Representative Fabiola Alanís, president of the Political Coordination Board of the Michoacán Congress, promised the unconditional political support of her party, Morena, for the proposal, as well as that of its allies in the Green Party and the Labor Party.
"At Morena, we defend freedom of expression. No journalist should die for telling the truth," Alanís said. "It's part of our national project, which involves promoting democracy, a democratic culture, inclusion and listening within a framework of pluralism."
Representative Alanís emphasized that one of the qualities of Ni Uno Más’ legislative initiative is that it is the result of an organized response from journalists themselves.
"The initiative itself is already an important step forward because it is the product of an organized response from the journalistic community," she said.
The south-central state of Puebla took a completely different legislative approach. On Feb. 13, Andrés Villegas, a state representative for Morena, introduced a bill establishing the rights to the free exercise of journalism in that state.
"Defending the right of others to express themselves also means defending our own freedom," Villegas said when he introduced the bill. "Today, the media, journalists and legislators have the opportunity to team up for cutting-edge legislation on freedom of expression."
The bill took journalists, academics, human rights defenders and freedom of expression experts in Puebla by surprise.
“This initiative lacks clarity and adequate outreach to the sectors directly involved,” Gerardo Herrera, journalist and host of SICOM Noticias in Puebla, told LJR. “It was introduced without prior consultation. Furthermore, the few technical and legal arguments offered in its explanatory statement do not contribute to public understanding or justify its relevance.”
LJR contacted Villegas via email and social media to hear his position on the criticism, but at the time of publication, he had not yet responded.
The initiative says that the bill's objective is to create a state legal framework to promote and respect the human rights of press workers. It recognizes rights including confidentiality; free and preferential access to information and public events; copyright and byline rights; and the right to personal safety.
But according to journalists and academics consulted for this article, the rights this initiative seeks to protect are already covered in other laws, such as the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, the General Transparency Law, and even the Constitution.
"There is no substantial contribution, nor is any obvious legal loophole addressed," Herrera said.
Catching the attention of press professionals is a chapter of the proposal dedicated to ethics in the practice of journalism, which establishes guidelines on the social role of press workers.
“Many reporters felt uncomfortable with the initiative because of this section, as it tries to impose how we should do our work, without even having a dialogue,” Shanik David, head of the Right to Truth Observatory Con los Ojos Abiertos at the Ignacio Ellacuría Human Rights Institute of the Ibero Puebla university, told LJR.
The initiative also includes articles dedicated to protecting journalism, requiring authorities to provide support in the face of any threats against journalists and prohibiting the state from pressuring or favoring members of the press.
“It’s a jumble of issues that complicates the actual application of the law,” Cuauhtémoc Cruz Isidoro, head of the undergraduate communication program at the Ibero Puebla university, told LJR.
Some journalists and media outlets have labeled the bill an attempt at a "gag law." This is particularly because of Article 44, which states that journalists must refrain from invading people's private lives.
"There's concern about who will dictate what is and isn't truthful, so the government could be involved in determining these conditions," Cruz Isidoro said.
However, the human rights institutions of Ibero consulted by LJR maintain that this is a harmless initiative, one that cannot be compared to a gag law, but that it was not requested by journalists. They consider other priority issues to be: the approval of a civil liability law for the protection of privacy, regulation of government advertising, and a local protection mechanism for journalists and human rights defenders.
These institutions submitted an analysis of the initiative to the Government and Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Puebla State Congress, along with a package of 14 specific observations for improvement.
"We identified these three initiatives or three pieces of legislation that need to be developed, but they should be developed independently and not in a single law that mixes issues and loses clarity about the limits," Cruz Isidoro said.
Mexico is the deadliest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, and one of the most fatal in the world for journalists.
Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Morena systematically attacked the press while in power, and at least 46 journalists were murdered during his term from 2018 to 2024. His successor of the same party, Claudia Sheinbaum, pledged before taking office to create a working group in the first quarter of 2025 to design a protection plan for Mexican journalists, but there is no information that this has happened.
In the case of Puebla, journalists are no strangers to this violence. During López Obrador's six-year term, the state had the third highest rates of violence against the media: 241 attacks on the press were recorded, according to the study "Pending Rights. Six-Year Report on Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information in Mexico," prepared in 2024 by the organization Article 19.
"None of this, nor the context surrounding the attacks on the press in Puebla, is acknowledged in the bill's presentation or in its explanatory statement," Roberto Alonso Muñoz, coordinator of the IBERO Puebla Observatory of Social Participation and Democratic Quality, told LJR.
