Journalists in Mexican state of San Luis Potosí jailed, indicted over AI-related charges

Guadalajara, May 25, 2026—Authorities in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí should immediately release journalists Eréndira Reyes and daughter Alejandra Hermosillo, and drop all criminal charges against them over the alleged illegal use of artificial intelligence (AI), the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

Two reporters, asking to remain anonymous for safety reasons, alerted CPJ that Reyes—founder and editor of Facebook-based news page San Wicho Times and the magazine Capital—had been arrested on May 21 by state police in San Luis Potosí, the state capital. Hermosillo was also arrested that same day. According to the National Registry of Detentions, Reyes and Hermosillo are still being held at the “La Pila” state penitentiary.

The reporters also shared a photo with CPJ of what appeared to be an arrest warrant against several journalists among eleven people. In a May 21 statement, the San Luis Potosí state prosecutor’s office confirmed Reyes and Hermosillo’s arrests, alleging “deliberate and illegal manipulation of the digital identity of the victim.” The statement did not name the victim or mention arrest warrants against other journalists.

“Jailing journalists on vague charges of ‘illegal use of AI’ is a clear escalation of the already sharp rise in cases of judicial harassment against journalists in Mexico, which continues to be the most dangerous country for journalists in the western hemisphere,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “The San Luis Potosí state authorities must immediately cease this aggressive crackdown on the press.”

The reporters told CPJ that they believe there are warrants for the arrest of several other journalists on the same charges, but CPJ was unable to confirm the existence of other warrants with San Luis Potosí authorities. 

According to the reporters, Reyes and Hermosillo’s arrests are in connection with a video that circulated widely on Facebook last year in which a local criminal gang in San Luis Potosí accused Gov. Ricardo Gallardo of corruption. Gallardo denounced the video as containing images of him manipulated by AI. The next month, San Luis Potosí amended its state penal code to include, in articles 187 and 187bis, AI-manipulated images as a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.

The reporters told CPJ that they believe the indictments are in retaliation of Reyes and Hermosillo’s prior critical reporting of Gallardo’s administration.

CPJ’s calls to Gallardo’s office and to the San Luis Potosí state prosecutor’s office for comment did not receive any reply.