Two Mexicans are prosecuted for being Twitter terrorists. That's the phrase being used to describe the crime of spreading rumors via tweets.
Gilberto Martinez Vera, 48, a private school teacher, and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola, a radio presenter, were accused of spreading false reports that gunmen were attacking schools in the south-eastern city of Veracruz.
The resulting panic caused dozens of car crashes after parents rushed to save their children from schools across the city and jammed emergency telephone lines, which "totally collapsed" under the pressure.
The Guardian offers an alternative theory in th same article:
Amnesty International accused officials of violating freedom of expression and instead blamed the panic on the city drug wars, in which 35,000 people are believed to have been killed in five years and which has seen people turning to social networks for information – both true and false.
(thanks to Todd Bryant)
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