Mexicans and its fight agains taxing the use of Internet

On Monday night Mexicans began to use a hashtag (#) on Twitter, #InternetNecesario, meaning "Internet is a Necessity". This hashtag was a form of protest against a new tax for telecommunications in Mexico, including Internet.

This hashtag pretends to show anger against this measure, since the Mexican government says this tax is made because Internet is a luxury, not a necessity. Mexicans who use the web to work, communicate, research, learn and many other uses disagrees with this idea.

According to the blog Isopixel, citing the World Bank, an increase of 10% in broadband availability has been shown to help developing countries to climb a 1.3 % of their Gross Domestic Product.

It's impossible not to see that Internet is a tool that makes information easily available, gives people a window to see what's outside their countries, and helps people to have all kind of opportunities they didn't have before because they can increase their education, their chances to do business, etc.

Why our government doesn't seem to see this? Because they are more concentrated in getting money for their particular agenda, but increasing taxes they only slow our economy. And taxing Internet is the worst kind of tax they have ever come up.

I hope this online protest has some influence in the lawmakers decision today, in my blog in Spanish (http://detras-de-mi-cristal.blogspot.com) I posted the letter that I wrote to one of this congressman (the one that represents my district) hoping more people protest and see that they are working for us, not against us.

Democracy and Internet

Recently, talking with Gabriel Adame (@Gabo_Adame on Twitter, who invited me to his last radio program in Plaza Network -@plazanetwork-) we were discussing how Internet could help democracy in various countries, including Mexico.

One of the tools that have helped people looking to improve democracy in their countries is Twitter. This social network has helped people to know what is happening in the world before the mainstream media even reports it and it has been used to events that traditional media considers unimportant or because there are controlled by the government and dissidence is punished with jail or even death.

Recently this happened in Iran and its election, called fraudulent by opponents to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and in China, where a conflict with Uighur, an ethnic group that was violently repressed. Both events were known in the world thanks to dissidents who managed tospread images and videos about what happened in both countries on Twitter.

What @Gabo_Adame said was that he considered possible that Internet improves democracy in our country in the same way other countries has done this: improving the information about government's abuses.

My question is how long is possible to do this? How can you influence through Internet so people reacts and starts to defend their rights?

To begin with, I think more access to the technology of Internet is necessary, so people can learn to use this tool and all his possibilities. This would be possible in Mexico when almost all schools, public or private, teach to use and give access to Internet.

Besides, people has to be able to use it easily outside schools and universities, in places like libraries, public square and places where people spends time with others.

In Mexico nearly 27 persons have access to Internet and it isn't clear if they use it in all its potential (for example, they use it mostly to check their e-mail and chat on instant messengers) and there are a lot of ways to get benefits from them if they know how to use it and spend some time understanding the Web.

But there are obstacles too: people who want to improve our democracy, if they don't know the internal operation of government and bureaucracy, at least as I see it, have a difficult task: make people participate and move so they can find a legal way to improve things. This is a difficult task not everyone would try.

It's a difficult matter and, nevertheless, I can help but feel that there's a little hope that, as soon Internet is widely used in our country and people begins to use it more for other things than studies, work or entertainment, all will begin to move.

Why some people is attacking others in Twitter

It's strange to be writing this, but I have no other way, first, to let the people know that someone is copying various accounts on Twitter, impersonating them, copying their avatars, bio, site link and backgrounds to mislead their followers to think they are the person they're impersonating. I’m the latest person their impersonating and trying to harass.

And second, I want to express my theory of why is this happening? Well, I've been thinking about this since the impersonation of various people I follow and respect started.

In some cases seems to be something personal, by the way the fake accounts tweets: something this person said or the fact that they have a lot of followers makes angry the author of the tweets and he's attacking them and trying to do as much damage to his image he can (and by impersonating them they also make people trust him and follow, so they can spread their "ideas" to more and more twitterers).

In other cases, it's a political issue. And I think in my case and at least one of my friends this is what happened. Why I say so? Well, for starters, we are in getting closer to an important election. I write in this blog and in the Spanish one stuff about Mexican politics. I express my views in Twitter (particularly, I have participated in some conversations about politics).

And the thing that I believe caused most of the anger of this person: I helped, with various others twitterers, to discover some accounts of a national newspaper were fake and were spreading mostly opinions, without saying 'this is an editorial', instead of news.

I'm talking of my case, but I believe in the case of other harassed people this is what's happening also: something they said about politics or something they do about those fake accounts or other fake accounts trying to influence people in certain way bothered this person.

And that's why I believe there's intolerance in Mexico. It seems to me that some intolerant people can't stand a person express their views (without trying to make others to think like him/her). Their response is to attack.

Well, I'm not going to enable this person by answering their attacks or even reading their tweets. I have a work (even if it's at home and freelance, I have a compromise to do it as good as I can), a family and problems to solve that are way too important to answer someone blinded by their bigotry and intolerance.

I'm just doing this post as a warning to those who could be approached by this account, asking them to follow him or in other ways. Also, to tell you that I'm ignoring their tweets, but I'm reporting them to Twitter. Hopefully, Twitter can do something about this.

And also, as a reflection about how things work in Mexico lately. It seems that if a person expresses views that contradict somebody else, then someone is going to attack him/her. It's really sad.

I think that everyone has the right to express their views, particularly if they aren't trying to force you to think their way. I have moderate views; I believe we should vote for the candidates that offer better solutions, no matter what their party is. Also, I don't believe in racism or homophobia, because everyone has the right to be treated equal by the people and the law. I think in every problem we have we can reach a solution discussing this problems, not disqualifying the other.

I hope people can see the difference among those positions: intolerance and tolerance, and chooses to follow or read those who are not trying to force their way by attacking others.

Credibility and Internet

Possibly some people could say this two words cannot be together. Is credibility in Internet possible? How important is that you take care of your name or brand, watching that it is used with credibility and legitimacy on Internet?

Well, at least in the United States it is a fact that many people take this situations very seriously. The most recent case was Tony La Russa, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, who filled a lawsuit against Twitter because someone tweeted in his name, using foul language and saying stuff he didn't like.
 

Just a little angry...

Maybe for Mexicans this is 'silly', but a for some people, companies and media in EU, his brand is very important and taking care of it in Internet is crucial.

A brand affected by a scandal or embarrassing situation must act fast or end up with a very bad image, like in those cases where people has reported objects or dirty stuff in fast food or the case of Domino's, when two employees put nasal mucus and saliva in sandwiches that they said were going to give to clients.

There are companies that by nature must take care of their credibility more than others, for instance, those who create news content (magazines, newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, news sites). If someone else uses their brand to misinformate, this could be a catastrophe in which users lost interest and trust in that company.

We have been seeing this kind of phenomena in Twitter lately, at least here in Mexico. At least a newspaper (La Jornada, which thanks to questions about his objetivity various users -including me- discovered that was a fake) had two fake accounts. Fortunately seems that Twitter suspended (at least temporarily) this accounts and both accounts lost all their followers.

I don't know why, but Mexican media isn't signing in to social media sites to protect their brands. It could be lack of human resources or just lack of interest in this kind of networks, but as users of this sites it's good to see Twitter is trying to do more in suspending fake accounts. As users, we will like to know that we are following the real thing and not accounts that use the name of a media company to tweet political stuff or try to influence people (particularly now that elections are close).

When will be a Social Media editor in newspapers in Latinamerica?

Matthew Palenksky, writer for The Huffington Post, wrote today an analysis about how the New York Times first social media editor, Jennifer Preston, is doing on Twitter

Palensky reported that the new editor, a veteran reporter an editor, who started using Twitter first asked feedback on how the NYT should use Twitter. She had more than three thousand followers in a day.

But seems to be that her use of Twitter caused surprise in Palensky, since she sent a RT of the tweet of another user and, in doing so, she unwillingly cut the link to the post she found useful, sending people to Ebay.

I wonder, though: if this was something that Palensky saw as a 'rookie mistake', what would he think about things in Latin America, where there's not such a position in any newspaper (that I know of) and there's just a few experiments trying to take advantage of social media as a way to attract people to reading newspapers again.

The effort is good, since the previous attitude towards social media was that it was more 'a game' than something you could use to "lure" readers to your content.

I think seeing someone representing a newspaper in such a personal way in Latin America (even with this kind of mistakes) would be more than interesting and a sign that finally newspapers and media is taking seriously this kind of tools.

And I think people who uses Social Media in Latin America would be very glad to see transparency in their newspapers, because someone trying to reach his readers in this way isn't part of the way the newspapers are used to work in Latin America.

In Mexico, for example, newspapers sometimes put their interest or connection with certain group (political or economical) before their ethic. I think using social media as more as broadcasting services will be very difficult for them.

I hope we can see soon something like the effort the NYT is doing. If in US newspapers are struggling but at least trying to understand the new ways users are obtaining their information, what is going to happen to newspapers in Latin America that aren't doing anything?

Cinco de Mayo isn't Mexico's Independence Day

As always, with 5 de mayo celebrations happening in US, I have this mixed feelings. I feel happy that there's a celebration that recognizes Mexican immigrants' influence in US, their heritage and pride, but at the same time, I find strange that this day has evolved in this huge celebration in US and besides, sometimes I think that some Americans believe this day is Mexico's Independence Day.

And just so you know, this is not the day we celebrate Independence. Mexicans celebrate that day on September 16th, because it was the day a priest, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, called people who lived in Mexico under the government of Spaniards to battle against them.

But even with this confusion, it was very nice to be able to see US President Barack Obama adressing people celebrating the day in the White House. He looks sincere in his way to treat Mexicans and I hope he will be a good neighbor as he said in this video:




Update: A curious fact was brought to my attention by @jhapik in Twitter, the general who fought the Battle of Puebla (which occurred on May 5th), Ignacio Zaragoza, was born in Texas when this state was part of Mexico. So he was Mexican and Texan at the same time.

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Living during an outbreak of flu in Mexico City

This Friday people living in Mexico City and the metropolitan area (nearby cities) wake up with the news that all classes in the zone were suspended due to an outbreak of the flu.

 

Image Credit: Sarihuela / Via Flickr and Creative Commons

The government took steps to prevent the spreading of the disease, which has caused (officially at least) 20 deaths and 1,004 sick people in all the country.

It has been a very strange situation to be living. First, incredulity. Mexicans in general doesn't trust the government, and this happens because previous governments usually didn't give information in a comprehensive and opportune way.

Then, everyone is taking all the precautions they can, either they believe this outbreak is so bad as the government has said or worse.

Streets are quieter than usual, some people is staying at home, watching news, reading newspapers, browsing on the Internet until they are certain it's safe to continue with their lives as always.

Others, even if they think the outbreak is serious, are going on with their lives, their jobs, because they need to do it. Life is hard in Mexico, earning a living is difficult and even taking a day off affects some people.

I’m hoping this is really as government is saying and that everything is under control, that they have enough medicine to cure those who fall sick. But I will do as everyone is doing: I will be watching news and looking for information until there’s certainty everything is safe again.

Streets are quieter than usual, many people is staying at home, watching news, reading newspapers, browsing on the Internet until they are certain it's safe to continue with their lives as always.

Couldn't be religion more a way to help each other?

I’m an agnostic.

Why is this important? Because I’m about to explain why after this last Lent and Holy Week (Semana Santa in Mexico) I feel like a stranger to the religion my parents tried to teach me and that is dominant in my country: Catholicism.

I find some things in the this religion I was grown up to believe was the best in the world (now I know there are other way of thinking) absurd, to say the least. I found silly, for example, the tradition to stop eating meat as a sacrifice for God, because most of Catholic people stops eating meat and they start eating fish (at least here in Mexico), but they turn this ritual into a treat, because they go to restaurants or cook special dishes for the whole family.

Also, before Lent, the Vatican asked Catholics to stop sending text messages or being in Internet as a way of sacrifice. Really? Is this really meaningful?

Image via Wikipedia

Wouldn’t it be better, instead of offering something as pointless as this, to do something for someone else? How about to be a voluntary in some institution, let’s say, an orphanage, a food bank, a nursing home every weekend during Lent? Or, if you can’t do this because you work night and day, giving some big donation to a charity? How about that?

I’m not against religion, I’m against those actions that become meaningless when we repeat and repeat the same thing over and over without thinking in other human beings. In contrast, on Thanksgiving, Obama and his family went to a food bank and gave some of their time to those less fortunate than them. Isn’t this better? I do believe so.

I wish religion would be a way to help people form bonds between each other, not to separate them or make them do rituals that don’t take you anywhere.

(P.S. Oh, and I’m writing this in English and in this blog because, among other things, some Catholic in Mexico take way too serious any “criticism” –actually, I see this as a proposal- to their customs. I think people from other countries and other cultures are more open-minded).

Mexico is not lost yet

Different media (particularly in the United States) have reported that Mexico is in his way to become a failed state.

In the Wall Street Journal an article explains why they think this is true:

Mexico is now in the midst of a vicious drug war. Police officers are being bribed and, especially near the United States border, gunned down. Kidnappings and extortion are common place.

This events can't be denied, but what I find a little biased is that there is no mention at all that not the people in Mexico is involved in this kind of things. Most people in Mexico is hard working, honest people, who only wants to raise their kids and make a living, maybe buy a house and a few material possesions.

But they aren't part of the drug gangs that are disestabilizing our country. This gangs have been able to predominate because they buy high technology weapons from US manufacterers and also because our security forces receive a salary that isn't enough to have a decent way of life.

In this crisis, it will be even more difficult to give police officers better wages to make them resist the bribes from the drug gangs, but something is being done, not like before, when the drug gangs and the corruption were 'leaved alone' by the goverment in exchange of peace and silence (since many of them were somehow involved or financed by drug gangs).

But I do not think that other countries should say Mexico is almost lost. There's actions that can be done before the 'failure' in our institutions. For instance, US could control better who sell weapons to whom, not close their eyes as if nothing is happening.

Also, if US helps, they could make certain petitions, among others, oversee how the money they are providing our country is really being used.

I don't believe it's wise for US to close their eyes and leave things go its current course. It is a security threat for them to leave their neighbors lose control of everything. I hope they can see this and help in the way they can. I don't think millions of persons who are not part of the criminals and corrupt government deserve to be abandoned.

Mexico, the land where nothing happens

People ask me from time to time why I'm so interested in what's happening outside my country. They think I'm not folllowing the news about Mexico or I'm not interested at all.

But I do. I read what's happening here, I'm interested in it, but I feel I can't do anything about it, that only a few people, those in the government or with influence in the national life (like television stations), can do something in this chaos we are living unwillingly. As many other Mexicans, I feel disappointed how this groups manipulate things.

This weekend, one example of this kind of manipulation happened during the Superbowl. I personally didn't see it happened, but it has been reported in every newspaper because of the stir it caused in Mexican people:  the two most important television stations in Mexico, Televisa and TV Azteca, decided to interrupt the Superbowl with political propaganda. They said they needed to do this because it was its obligation by law, but many analysts think (and many citizens) think this happened because Televisa and TV Azteca are angry at the electoral authorities that established that political propaganda wouldn't be paid and it would be aired during AA rating programs.

Of course, they should have aired this propaganda in the Superbowl, but in different blocks, or using the pauses in the game. Its aim, seems to be, was to cause people to be angry at the political parties and the electoral authorities and the sad thing is they succeeded to do this with certain kind of audiences.

Of course, it's possible this same audiences will be more disenchanted with the whole electoral process. So, our imperfect democracy will continue to be so.

I think no company has the right to do this kind of tricks, to try to influence decisions that affect them with 'vendettas' and I believe these two television stations with national reach should be punished. But of course, because this is the 'nothing happens' country, nothing it's going to happen. So, I will continue to read news from countries where things do move.

Mexican and US as partners?

This week our President, Felipe Calderón, had a meeting with the US President-elect, Barack Obama. This was a very important meeting in our country and (I think, even if I like Obama) another activity in the schedule of the US President.

I don't blame him, really. Mexico, unfortunately, has become lately in sort of a headache for US (from their point of view, of course) for the insecurity, the drug gangs spreading in our territory, the immigrants passing for thousands every month, the trade controversies, among other stuff.

But I would like so much that Obama (and all the people in US) will give us a chance. I think both countries could find common ground in this issues and they would be able to begin to solve them if they cooperate with each other.

And by cooperation I mean really enforce policies that work in both countries, for example, if US could block the sales of guns to Mexico it would make harder for drug gangs to obtain guns and armament.

Of course, this would need a detailed plan, with respect to both countries differences and cultures, so it's difficult to say if Mexico and US could be partners in this kind of effort.

Are politicians 'off limits'? Just here in Mexico

Yesterday I posted a brief comment about a video with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, where the first one mocks again Sarah Palin, the VP candidate of the Republican Party.

In US there is a healthy practice: to show the weaknesses and mistakes the politicians have, even the President. Nevertheless, in Mexico this is not usual.

Here politicians, specially the President, are almost 'off limits' in TV shows.

I think we still have very present a time when the President was the most powerful person in Mexico, and talking about any kind of weakness was a dangerous thing to do. Some of them even ordered to disappear his opponents.

But now, even if we have more liberty to talk about the public figures than in previous times, there should be more spoofs of the President, candidates and every important person in politics.

In contrast, there are just some glimpses of comedy in segments of news programm, and they only cover some aspects of politics, but they lack of real 'sting', (i.e. they only mock partially or stuff that is not really important).

In my opinion, the media, by not having this kind of expressions, are showing they act as if they were in the past. I believe the censorship must disappear and that Mexicans are intelligent enough to judge by themselves if a comedian is showing something relevant or the government is right in its decisions.

Are Mexicans real patriots?

Patriotism is a something that many Mexicans seems to hold high in their values. In my case, I believe that this word has become more common place than something real, like actions to show we really love our country.

Some people in Mexico express this value in a way that doesn't seem coherent to me. This kind of Mexicans seem to believe they show their patriotism celebrating our national festivities with a blast (Independence Day, on September 15, and Revolution Day, on November 20), but they do not take more real actions to show they love their nation.

This Mexicans pollute rivers, soil, and air without worrying about losing our natural resources. They do little to help less fortunate people. They are not civilized in their way to obtain something, they tend to step in other people toes so they can get what they want. And this, for many Mexicans, is acceptable.

There is an old saying 'el que no tranza no avanza' (he who doesn't cheat, don't get ahed) and  this kind of people believe in this.

It's awful to hear that this group of people tarnish the image of all Mexicans in other countries, because they stand out in contrast with people who tries to be a better kind of citizen. If they migrate, they attain to this kind of attitudes where they live and this is awful, because not all of us are the same.

Some of us want to achieve things, to work hard and get a just reward, to work for our country (here or even if we migrate, showing Mexicans are good for our country and for the one that gives us shelter) and we want to show we are not only being 'patriotic' in the festivities, but also with actions in our daily life.

Underemployment, a critical situation in Mexico and developing countries

Economic trends in the world are causing problems in developing countries. In Mexico, underemployment is a important phenomenon, but curiously it is not easy to know how many people is underemployed due to the lack of statistics and research about this.

And even if some sources claim that the number of underemployed people is decreasing, it's a dramatic situation that people with specialized skills have to search for jobs that are not what they were trained for. I do not believe this because I found humiliating for this persons to have a lower skills job, but because if they are trained to do a specialized job and possibly to earn a little more than a person who does not have higher skills, then it is difficult to maintain certain level of living they expected to have.

Besides, in Mexico the wages are lower than in developed countries in any range of jobs. An electrical engineer is sometimes offered 400 dollars a month, while in USA the lowest wage is 4,000 dollars. The difference is abysmal. And the lower a position is in skills, the wages are almost non existing.

Our country lacks of a strong strategy to avoid underemployment and unemployment. There has been different policies, but not a continuous and well analyzed plan. In various states of Mexico there are different levels of development and then it's difficult to make a policy that is useful for all. It is not impossible if the governments of this states cooperated with the federal government, but this is not happening.

And Mexican government is still wondering why so many people tries to migrate to USA, Canada or other developed countries.