Mexican lawmaker who authored AI law sues journalist, raising press freedom concerns

Héctor Serrano, a state deputy in San Luis Potosí, has filed a defamation complaint against Juan Pablo Moreno Rodríguez, the director of the digital news outlet La Noticia. The complaint centers on a story Moreno published last year about Serrano's financial stake in a development project involving the Tangamanga parks. Moreno said the outlet had offered Serrano a right of reply at the time. On June 10, Moreno was summoned to appear before the state prosecutor's office as an investigated party, only to discover upon arrival that his accuser was Serrano himself.

The complaint would be routine political friction—a public figure suing a journalist over coverage—except for the timing and the pattern it fits into. Serrano is the author of a law passed in November 2025 that criminalized what the statute calls "improper use" of artificial intelligence in creating and distributing content. The law carries prison sentences of one to six years. It has become known as the Ley Serrano, the Serrano Law. And it has become a tool.

Two journalists were arrested on May 21 under this same statute, following a complaint filed by Ruth González Silva, a senator and the wife of Governor Ricardo Gallardo Cardona. The prosecutor handling both cases is José Rubén González Ramos. The overlap is not accidental. Since November, San Luis Potosí has seen a steady stream of legal complaints against journalists who have reported critically on the government. Serrano leads the state legislature's Green Party delegation, which is allied with the ruling Morena coalition. The governor's wife is the leading candidate to succeed him in 2027.

When Moreno arrived at the prosecutor's office on June 10, he was told the summons was no longer urgent and that the prosecutor would not receive him. His attorney, Natalia Castillo, demanded to see the complaint file and learn what specific crimes Moreno was accused of committing. She was told only that Serrano had filed it. "It is not possible to summon someone to appear and then hide the complaint," Castillo said. "Every accused person has the right to know what they are being accused of." Moreno had responded to the initial summons out of fear, aware that failure to appear could result in police enforcement.

When asked about the complaint, Serrano acknowledged filing it but denied that it involved the new AI crimes in the penal code. He said it was purely about damage to his public image from the parks story. Yet he also stated that he had evidence of other crimes that would eventually be proven, and that he would provide additional proof and ensure the truth prevailed. The statement was cryptic and contradictory—a denial wrapped in a threat.

The international press freedom organization Artículo 19 has been tracking the pattern since November. The organization has called the AI law a "structural threat to freedom of expression" because its vague language about "improper use" creates legal uncertainty. Journalists cannot know in advance what reporting might trigger a criminal investigation. The law has become a mechanism for chilling speech, for making journalists afraid to publish stories about powerful people, for turning the machinery of the state against the machinery of the press.

What has happened in San Luis Potosí is not unique to Mexico, but it is particularly visible there right now. A lawmaker writes a law. The law is vague enough to be weaponized. Complaints begin to flow from the governor's inner circle. Journalists are summoned, arrested, harassed. The law's author files his own complaint, demonstrating that the tool works. The message is clear: report on us and face consequences. The question now is whether the state will allow this pattern to continue, or whether the courts and federal authorities will intervene to protect the press.