President of Mexico stands by decision to share journalist's phone number

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivers a speech on the third anniversary of his presidential election victory at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

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	President of Mexico stands by decision to share journalist's phone number. By Patricia Rodríguez tellusmexico.mx MEXICO CITY - For the second time, Mexico's president shared a letter from the bureau chief for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean at the New York Times while defending his decision to publicly reveal her private telephone number. During his morning press conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador showcased a letter from Natalie Kitroeff of the Times, although the Monday edition concealed the phone number he had previously made public. However, the president agreed to make the number public, justifying it by pointing out that Kitroeff had already shared it with a government communications official. “Journalism is a public activity, like politics, and we all have to act with transparency,” Lopez Obrador said. The letter inquired about the president's office's response to an investigation into allegations of Lopez Obrador's allies meeting with and accepting millions of dollars from drug cartels after his inauguration in 2018. The Mexican president has denied the allegations. The disclosure of Kitroeff's phone number by Lopez Obrador raised alarms in Mexico, which is known for its high risks to journalists. An investigation is being launched by INAI, Mexico's freedom of information body, regarding the publication of the number. The Times called Lopez Obrador’s disclosure of the number “a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world leader.” YouTube received backlash from the president on Sunday for deleting his news conference video from Thursday, where he revealed her phone number. According to a spokesperson, YouTube's harassment policies explicitly ban content that discloses personal information like phone numbers. Afterward, they released a modified edition that removed Kitroeff's private details.