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On August 25, 2011 Gilberto Martinez Vera and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola made a series of fraudulent Twitter tweets alleging that an attack by drug gangs was in progress at an elementary school in Veracruz Mexico. The tweets caused mass panic that was compared to the War of the Worlds panic. The two were charged with terrorism and faced more than 30 years in jail. The charges were later dropped.

There were 26 car accidents as people left their cars in the middle of the streets, as they ran to pick up their children.

References

1. Dan Goodin. "Twitter users charged with terrorism for false tweets". The Register, 9/7/2011.
2. ^ "'Twitter terrorists' face 30 years in jail for inciting mass panic". The Sydney Morning Herald, 9/5/2011.
3. Mexico 'Twitter terrorism' charges dropped. BBC News, 9/22/2011.

Further reading

• Diego Rivera Hernández, Raúl (2020). ""Nos están matando!": Professional Reflexivity on Violence Against Mexican Journalists in Contemporary Chronicles". In Diego Rivera Hernández, Raúl (ed.). Narratives of Vulnerability in Mexico's War on Drugs. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 83–132. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-51144-9_3. ISBN 978-3-030-51144-9. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
• Beltrán, Edith (2015-01-01). "Mexico's Fearscapes: Where Fantasy Personas Engage in Citizenship". Fear and Fantasy in a Global World. Brill. pp. 75–98. ISBN 978-90-04-30604-2. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
• Sandoval-Almazan, Rodrigo; Gil-Garcia, J. Ramon (2012). "Government–Citizen Interactions Using Web 2.0 Tools: The Case of Twitter in Mexico". In Reddick, Christopher G.; Aikins, Stephen K. (eds.). Web 2.0 Technologies and Democratic Governance: Political, Policy and Management Implications. New York, NY: Springer. pp. 233–248. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-1448-3_15. ISBN 978-1-4614-1448-3. Retrieved 2025-01-18.

• 2011 hoaxes
• 2011 in Mexico
• 2011 crimes in Mexico
• Terrorist incidents in North America in 2011
• Terrorist incidents in Mexico
• August 2011 crimes in North America
• August 2011 events in Mexico
• Attacks in Mexico in 2011