Mexican president slams YouTube for taking down his video that shared a journalist's phone number

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president again lashed out at social media platform YouTube on Monday for taking down part of his daily news briefing where he revealed a reporter’s phone number.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the platform in Mexico “has been taken over by conservatives,” accused it of censorship and claimed YouTube “is in full decline.”

It marked the latest chapter in the Mexican president’s love-hate relationship with social media. López Obrador's YouTube channel has 4.2 million subscribers, and the president gives preference to social media blogs and news sites at his briefings, often answering questions only from them.

Press freedom groups said the president’s decision to make public the phone number of a New York Times reporter Thursday was an attempt to punish critical reporting, and exposed the reporter to potential danger.