A Mexican Congressman Wants To Ban Memes And Rip The Very Fabric Of The Internet

Mexican congresswoman Martha Orta Rodriguez is so sick of your Pepe memes that she wants to impose a fine on all Mexican netizens who not only create memes but also share them all over the Internet. Rodriguez prefers to live in a humourless world where posting a meme lands you in prison for up to four years and with and $2,000 penalty. Ay dios mio!

Congresswoman Rodriguez does have a pretty thoughtful reason for wanting to do away with memes. The conservative lawmaker says she’s “seeking to deter violence or harassment from social networks” by stopping the decimation of humiliating pictures.

Committing the offense of unlawful dissemination of images and sounds who transmit, publish, disseminate or transfer to third images, sounds or recordings harmful content that denigrates or humiliates a person with or without your consent, which may or may not contain text. This offense is punishable by a sentence of two to four years in prison and a fine of three hundred to four hundred minimum wages.

Sourcing a translated Mexican news website, Rodriguez reportedly said four out of 10 people aged 12-18 are “potential victims of some form of harassment through the internet,” while 9 in 10 claim to have experienced bullying from social networks.

Obviously, the proposed bill isn’t sitting well with Mexican meme creators and sharers. And they’re fighting back by, naturally, making memes out of Rodriguez with the hashtag #LadyMemes.

https://twitter.com/MortimerSanchez/status/728302318295330817

https://twitter.com/jossdean/status/727935766609821697

https://twitter.com/jossdean/status/727935369082109957

https://twitter.com/arggmand/status/727823751593656320

https://twitter.com/gagomx/status/727717800492580865

https://twitter.com/Jan_Herzog/status/727672445943996417

https://twitter.com/SLPcabaretero/status/728222120514191360