Indigenous activists smeared on socials
This surge in digital harassment is unfolding amid Guatemala’s fragile political landscape, marked by entrenched corruption, close links between political elites and organised crime, and a prolonged struggle to shed the legacy of military dictatorship and chronic impunity.After anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo secured a surprise victory in the 2023 election, state prosecutors refused to recognise the outcome, orchestrating efforts to overturn the result. Observers described the events as an ‘attempted coup’, which failed following massive Indigenous-led protests and international pressure.EnforcementThe same forces behind the attempted coup now appear to be punishing protestors who defended the legitimacy of the election – driving coordinated smear campaigns against those who demonstrated to protect the democratic vote.The report shows that Indigenous leaders and land activists asserting legitimate territorial and land rights are also frequent targets of these campaigns. Smear campaigns frequently frame Indigenous or land activism as criminal, extremist or foreign influenced, reinforcing long-standing patterns of discrimination and repression against Mayan communities in Guatemala. Global Witness warns that such attacks are designed to isolate defenders from their communities, pave the way for criminalisation, and delegitimise Indigenous claims to land and rights. Last year, key leaders of the pro-democracy movement that surged after the 2023 elections were arrested and could face decades in jail.The report highlights how weak regulation and enforcement by global social media companies is enabling these abuses.PoliticianMost attacks documented in the report occurred after companies such as Meta and X rolled back key fact-checking and safety measures – decisions widely criticised for exacerbating disinformation and human rights harms.Global Witness argues these social media companies are failing to enforce their own rules prohibiting harassment, hate speech and incitement to violence.The report underscores how the criminalisation of land and environmental defenders increasingly begins online, where coordinated harassment and disinformation set the stage for more traditional forms of repression.Garate added: “We tend to think of criminalisation as something decided by a politician or judge. But increasingly, the social and ideological groundwork is laid online, on the very platforms we use every day.Justice“These tactics weaponise stigma, fear and social isolation to strip defenders of their legitimacy, eroding their reputations with the public and within their own communities. When these narratives take hold in digital spaces, defenders can lose long before they see a courtroom. What is happening to defenders in Guatemala is a profound threat to democracy and human rights – and an indictment on Big Tech’s failure to act.”Global Witness said social media companies must be held accountable for their failure to enforce their own anti-harassment policies.Stronger platform governance, combined with broader accountability measures, is essential to weakening the grip of corrupt actors over Guatemala’s justice system and creating safer conditions for defenders of democracy, the environment, and human rights to carry out their vital work.This AuthorBrendan Montague is an editor at The Ecologist.
