For example, platforms like X and TikTok, where content must be brief, can motivate messages that encourage audiences to express their opinion about the presence of the armed forces in daily civilian life. This could be dangerous if there are no discourses that contrast ideas about violence justified for civic order, including the containment of migratory flows.
Users on social networks could be the target of disinformation campaigns around sensitive topics, such as the violation of the human rights of migrants and hate speech towards populations in vulnerable situations due to the effects of the disproportionate use of the Army, which seeks to hide the coercive measures by the authorities or justify the participation of the Armed Forces in more civil tasks
The current conversation in the digital sphere about the military does not have a defined predominant bias: some topics are better viewed than others. The presence of the Army and the National Guard in emergency situations due to natural disasters (Plan DN-III-E) and in infrastructure works are normalized on social networks. That is, users who question the functions of the Armed Forces in rescuing people in disasters due to natural events – or taking care of the construction of the Mayan Train – are few compared to those who approve of the Army in these activities.
The Defense (formerly Sedena) TikTok account is one of the most popular among government profiles on the social network (3.5 million followers). Most of the content focuses on socializing its activities to help the population in cases of emergency, as well as its training and training processes. Most of the comments on these videos are supportive of the institution and its members, and the comments that question their participation in public life have little support and rather generate rejection among users.
However, in matters of intelligence and public security things are different. Audiences have mixed feelings when the armed forces appear in demonstrations against organized crime. Data is needed to know with certainty whether social media users consent to the Army’s use in security matters; But we know that, when the Army arrives unexpectedly in the municipalities, it causes concern among citizens who express fear and uncertainty in the reports that emerge from social networks. These narratives can be the effect of documenting violent episodes, such as those in Culiacán, as a message of “order has arrived” or “something undesirable is happening.”
Given the imminent continuity in the use of the Army and the National Guard to contain migratory flows to the United States, political and military power has at its disposal a powerful tool to reduce negative perceptions towards the armed forces, and with this increase or maintain approval among social media users, even with false information that seeks to hide cases of serious violence. However, the population’s trust in defense institutions is a necessary condition to implement national security and defense actions that are more effective and serve as social control so that the military does not abuse its power at the risk of losing legitimacy. .
Therefore, the media in the digital sphere must cover these issues with caution: political interests will have more space on the agenda than possible violations of the human rights of migrants who cross through Mexico to reach the USA. Social networks could complicate the picture due to the possible risk of misinformation that may arise around the migration phenomenon, especially in border areas.
Unverified content, the use of AI without formal regulation, the confusion that exists around specialized topics and the lack of data on migratory flows are some of the problems that we are not considering in the short term. But the excessive positive socialization of the Armed Forces’ interventions – without opportunity for a critical discussion about the positive and negative effects – is something that must be considered in the long term; especially in the face of a historical moment where the Armed Forces are present in all public spaces, including social networks.
