Mexico's Sheinbaum gives social networks ultimatum to remove violent content

Mexico City, Mexico - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday ordered Meta, TikTok, X, Apple, and Microsoft to remove content inciting violence on their social networks following a spate of deadly attacks in schools.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily press conference at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City on September 24, 2026. She has ordered social media companies to remove violent content from their platforms, or face consequences.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily press conference at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City on September 24, 2026. She has ordered social media companies to remove violent content from their platforms, or face consequences.   © REUTERS

Sheinbaum gave the platforms a month to comply or face sanctions.

In the past two weeks, two people have been killed and several people injured in two separate school attacks.

The attacks have caused alarm in a country that is a relative stranger to shootings or stabbings in schools.

Sheinbaum warns that the MAGA right wants to change the government in Mexico
Mexico Sheinbaum warns that the MAGA right wants to change the government in Mexico

On October 1, two teenage brothers armed with knives and fireworks killed a female assistant principal and injured three other people at a school in Coahuila state.

Then on Tuesday, a teacher was shot dead at a school in the southern state of Oaxaca.

Sheinbaum linked the violence to "behavior associated with communication on social media."

She said that if the tech companies did not "adjust their algorithms" to remove "all violent content linked to the accounts of children and adolescents," she would legislate to impose sanctions on them.

Sheinbaum denies censorship claims

The decree issued by Sheinbaum on Wednesday orders social networks to prevent minors accessing "images and videos that lead to or encourage violence in a school setting," including "abuse, suicide, self-harm, cyberbullying and hate speech."

The networks must alert the authorities "if they identify content that endangers life."

In a discussion with TikTok and Instagram users, Sheinbaum denied that the new rules amounted to censorship.

"We're not banning social media," she said.

Cover photo: YURI CORTEZ / AFP Copy Photo by YURI CORTEZ / AFP

More on Mexico: