Mexico’s AI Cloning Law May Not Cover the Case Testing It
MEXICO · TECHNOLOGY
Key Facts
- —The accusation The YouTuber Luisito Comunica says government-linked accounts used AI to clone his likeness.
- —The content Videos praising President Sheinbaum’s annual report, using the faces of well-known Mexicans.
- —Where An account called Conversación Pública carrying Mexican government logos. It has since disappeared from platforms.
- —Who published it Not established. No federal department has been identified.
- —The response None. The government has not commented.
- —The legal gap Mexico’s 2026 AI-cloning reform protects artists and performers. Protection for ordinary people’s image and voice was removed before passage.
The interesting part is not whether it happened. It is that Mexico wrote a law against exactly this in May and then took most of it out.
Luis Arturo Villar Sudek, the YouTuber known as Luisito Comunica, has accused the Mexican government of generating artificial-intelligence videos using his likeness to praise President Claudia Sheinbaum’s annual report, in a case that lands squarely in a gap left by this year’s copyright reform.
What He Said
Writing on Instagram Stories on 13 September 2026, he described what he had seen as videos made by the Mexican government with artificial intelligence, using the faces of famous people, speaking well of the president’s report.
He added that it is very poor form for the Mexican government to use the faces of Mexicans without authorisation.
What Is Not Established
The clips appeared on an account called Conversación Pública, which carried Mexican government logos and has since disappeared from the platforms.
No federal department has been identified as the publisher, and none has confirmed or denied responsibility. A logo on an account is not proof of who operates it, and The Rio Times does not name a ministry.
The government has not responded. That is different from denying, and it should not be reported as a denial.
The Law Mexico Passed This Year
Mexico reformed its federal copyright law and its labour law in 2026 to create protection against artificial-intelligence cloning of voice and image. The Chamber of Deputies approved it on 7 April and it was published in the official gazette on 14 May 2026.
Penalties reach 40,000 days of minimum wage. But the protection was written for artistas intérpretes: performers, voice actors and dubbing professionals, the industries that lobbied for it.
Protection for ordinary people’s own image and voice was stripped from Article 87 late in the legislative process, after lobbying by industry associations.
Why That Matters Here
Eduardo De La Parra, who teaches intellectual property at UNAM, described the effect bluntly: consent is irrelevant to the law, and even where people object, the use of their image and voice data can be carried out freely.
Whether a YouTuber falls within the performer category is genuinely unsettled. Someone who appears on camera, scripts and presents content could be argued into it; someone the law drafters had in mind when they wrote artista intérprete probably was not.
That is the story. A country that legislated against artificial-intelligence likeness cloning four months ago may not have legislated against the case now testing it.
A Sourcing Note
The substantive reporting comes from Infobae México, with other coverage syndicating it. The Rio Times reports it as a single-source account of the accusation.
An unrelated fake circulated in July 2026 claiming Sheinbaum had barred Luisito Comunica from Mexico. It was debunked at the time and has nothing to do with this.
What Would Resolve It
Identifying who operated the account is the first question, and it is answerable: government communications contracts are public, and an account carrying official logos was either authorised or it was impersonating the state.
The second question is whether anyone tests the law. A case brought by a well-resourced public figure would establish where the boundary of the performer category sits, which is the part of this that matters to everyone who is not famous.
More: Mexico news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the accusation?
That government-linked accounts used AI to clone the likenesses of well-known Mexicans, including Luisito Comunica, to praise the president’s annual report.
Who published the videos?
An account called Conversación Pública carrying government logos, since removed. No department has been identified.
Has the government responded?
No. It has not commented, which is not the same as a denial.
Does Mexican law cover this?
Possibly not. The 2026 reform protects artists and performers; protection for ordinary people’s image and voice was removed from Article 87 before passage.
When did that law take effect?
It was published in the official gazette on 14 May 2026.
Sources: Infobae México, Expansión, Diario Oficial de la Federación, Proceso.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error
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