Blog del Narco, a website known for publishing uncensored images and videos of violence in Mexico, reported via Twitter and its new site, MilCincuenta.com, that users are having difficulty viewing the page since Oct. 24, especially those using Google Chrome.
"Friends, over the last several days www.blogdelnarco.com has been experiencing problems and we want to inform you all that from here on we will be making some changes in the interest of security and to continue providing timely information on what happens in Mexico," the message read.
"The government and some individuals want to censor us, they've denounced us to Blogger, where the site is hosted for security reasons and because we do not have the resources for a dedicated server," replied an anonymous representative via e-mail when the Knight Center asked what caused the site's technical problems.
Blog del Narco, which gets three million views a week, was created on Mar. 2, 2010, with the goal to report on the violence in Mexico since the traditional media had started self-censoring their coverage due to threats and attacks on the press in the country, the site reads. The blog creators identify as a group of young people fighting to access objective information on events in Mexico. They do not claim any affiliation with organized crime and depend on the public to send them the images and videos displayed on the site, according to an interview with the website Boing Boing.
Blog del Narco was one of the websites mentioned in the threatening message found with two unidentified bodies in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
Another anonymous Blogger user claimed that threatening messages appeared on two of their blogs dedicated to drug trafficking news. The blogs have since been shut down. The user was worried because both accounts contained personal information that could put the author in danger.
The Knight Center recommends these 15 steps to help guarantee privacy and anonymity online when reporting on dangerous subjects.
