2024-02-11 02:50:23
10/02/2024
The Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) issued a statement this Saturday to reject a series of intimidations of which several communicators have been victims after publishing critical content about the influencer Luis Villa, better known in the digital world as Westcol.
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According to the organization, at least two journalists from the Publimetro newspaper have received death threats, intimidation and multiple harassment content in recent days after engaging in a controversy*/ with the influencer.
The events began on February 9, when the streamer published on his social networks the image of a buzzard that appeared with a rope tied to its neck, accompanied by the text “New pet. How do we name it?”
After the publication, the journalist Eliana Peñaloza, from the newspaper Publimetro, in turn published a tweet in which she stated that it was an incitement to the abuse of animals, a controversy began with Villa in which he not only rejected the work of the journalist, but began to denigrate her physical appearance.
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In the midst of the discussion, the influencer’s followers joined in the disqualifications, many of them even making threats against his physical integrity.
“(Villa) not only dismissed the communicator’s work, but also used sexist expressions to refer to her, belittling her and making inappropriate comments about her physical appearance. Since then, the journalist has received more than 400 insulting messages on her account, with comments about her body and threats to publish her phone number and even death, which led her to have to put her account in mode. private”, denounced the FLIP.
In addition to Peñaloza, another communicator who joined the controversy to defend her colleague, journalist Luz Lancheros from that same newspaper, also began to be the target of intimidation, this time in the form of photomontages that showed her in a coffin and invitations to her friends. funeral honors.
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These two cases, FLIP recalled, add to another intimidation against a journalist from the media Última Hora Col, who on February 6 also received threats from the influencer, even being forced to close his social media accounts and change his number. cell phone.
In addition to describing Westcol’s intimidation against journalists as a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression and the press, Flip asked the authorities to investigate these threats.
“We urgently call on the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the threats directed at journalists and punish those responsible. It is essential that solid judicial precedents be established to deter future attacks against the press,” FLIP added.
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