By Laura Pardo 
The recent TelevisaLeaks scandal, which exposed media manipulation and dirty campaigns by one of Mexico’s largest media conglomerates, is not an isolated event. This leak comes at a particularly sensitive moment, as the Mexican government is pushing for a new law to regulate telecommunications and digital content, raising concerns over the potential use of such legislation to tighten control over the public narrative.
Media Manipulation and State Control
The TelevisaLeaks documents reveal how the media giant has used its power to manipulate information and carry out smear campaigns against its political and economic adversaries. These practices have created a vacuum of trust in traditional media, providing a pretext for more state regulation of digital platforms.
The law currently being discussed in Mexico could, under the guise of combating misinformation, pave the way for “technoauthoritarianism,” where the state not only regulates media but also has the power to decide which information is deemed dangerous or harmful to public order. This legislation could be used to silence dissenting voices and further concentrate power in the hands of the government.
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The Threat to Free Expression
The fear is that laws like this, originally designed to “protect” democracy from fake news, could easily be manipulated in highly concentrated power environments. Internationally, it has been shown that such laws often expand beyond their original intent and become tools of censorship and political control. In this sense, the risk to free expression is clear, particularly when the control of information merges with state power.
In this context, the proposed law is not just a reaction to the TelevisaLeaks scandal but a reflection of the ongoing tensions between free expression and state control in the digital age. The real battle lies not just in the legislative arena but in the defense of a public space that remains plural, transparent, and truly democratic.
The challenge now is to resist not only restrictive laws but also to build mechanisms for citizen oversight and strengthen independent media, to prevent “technoauthoritarianism” from advancing under the guise of a necessary solution.