Mexican journalist, IPFA recipient Maria Teresa Montaño targeted in possible malware, surveillance attacks

Mexico City, May 19, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mexican authorities to immediately and credibly investigate possible malware and digital surveillance attacks against Mexican journalist Maria Teresa Montaño Delgado and The ObserverMX, and take appropriate steps to guarantee her safety.

Montaño, a 2023 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award (IPFA), told CPJ on May 18 she believes her laptops and smartphones may have been compromised by malicious software after she discovered on April 29 that an unknown device was connected to her email account, as well as a number of files she did not recognize on one of her laptops.

“Aggressive surveillance and malware attacks against Maria Teresa Montaño, known for investigating sensitive topics, is especially heinous given Mexico’s status as the deadliest country for journalists in the western hemisphere and its abysmal record on illegal surveillance of journalists,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico Representative. “Mexican authorities must prove they take digital attacks seriously.”

Montaño is the founder and editor of The ObserverMX, which investigates graft, corruption, human rights abuses, and fact-checks public officials in Estado de México, a state neighboring Mexico City. Montaño has been repeatedly targeted by threats and harassment by public officials in the past.

In 2021, she was briefly kidnapped by unknown assailants who threatened her and seized her equipment. Montaño has since enrolled in a protection program overseen by the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders. An official for the Mechanism, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to comment publicly, confirmed to CPJ that Montaño is still enrolled in the program and that his agency would contact her to analyze the recent incidents.

Montaño told CPJ that she does not know whether the digital attacks are directly linked to any of The ObserverMX’s current investigative work. She added that the recent incidents followed an email sent to her on April 13, in which an unknown sender asked her about “investigations into unknown fraudulent contracts.”

CPJ contacted the Estado de México state Human Rights Commission and the state Institute for the Protection of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders. Officials with both institutions, who asked not to be named, were unable to immediately provide comment but committed to following up on the case.