How to follow the J-23 general election with Maldita.es tools

In Maldita.es we are not going to tell you whether to vote or not (or who to vote for), but we want to give you tools so that you can decide without being influenced by falsehoods.

Disinformation about alleged «pucherazos» and absentee voting, about who can or cannot vote in the general elections, about what the candidates have or have not said, about who has endorsed a party or a candidate… The stories that the “buleros” tell us are sometimes repeated, with small variations, from one election to another, and on other occasions they are created from scratch. We also have to pay attention to the political speeches and falsehoods that they try to slip through our fingers.

We want to make it easy for you, so we have centralized everything in our Election Special.

We release our LIVE BROADCASTS

In this final stretch of the elections we are launching our LIVE BROADCASTS: a timeline where we document the content we are verifying and the progress we are making.

We know that working quickly is very important to increase the reach of our denials, especially when we face a disinformation crisis. But sometimes we can’t reach everything: we need an institution to respond to us, or the help of experts. In our live show, you can see what content we are working on and collaborate with your superpowers by debunking hoaxes. Find out what content you can help us with here. We also want to bring more transparency to our work with the live shows: you will always know what content we are working on and what information we have at that moment.

Your collaboration is essential during these elections: if you have knowledge of OSINT techniques (reverse video and image search, geolocation, image analysis), if you are a political scientist, sociologist, statistician… you have a superpower that we need during these days! In our live poll, you can always consult the content we are trying to verify, so you know where you can help.

‘Comprobado’: because together it is much harder to be cheated

Collaborative projects also have their place in these general elections. Joining forces to detect hoaxes and disinformation is the goal of Comprobado, the first collaborative project to independently verify electoral information in Spain. In this 2023 edition, coordinated by Maldita.es, efforts are focused on increasing the dissemination of verified content and providing the media with useful information for their audiences that complements their coverage of the elections. This alliance is formed by EFE Verifica, Maldita.es, Newtral, VerificaRTVE and Verificat, and distributes free disavowals to about twenty allied media that have decided to join this coalition.

By land, sea and air: we will deliver the denials wherever you need them

In addition to the general election special, we continue to work on social networks with tools and disavowals against election hoaxes. For example, on TikTok, we answer your doubts about the elections, because we know that this campaign is also being played here, where the parties are trying to attract the younger electorate. In addition, during these weeks, we are working with the social network to create educational content.

Not forgetting WhatsApp: in our Weekly Roundup every Saturday, we will bring you the highlights of the campaign: debate reviews, denials of electoral disinformation… Subscribe in one click.

#VotaSinBulos: the hoax emergency team in action

During the election campaign, the Maldita.es team launches the Hoaxes Emergency Team. We know that, especially during the day of reflection, many hoaxes circulate trying to influence your vote. That’s why the Bulera Emergency Team will be watching during the next weekends the contents that you send us to our WhatsApp bot (+34 644 229 319) and will verify during those days the hoaxes and lies of the campaign.

In this election campaign, we need you: these are days of battle against hoaxes, so if someone sends you a lie, answer him and send him the denial. Don’t shut up if you see a hoax. Let us know about the contents suspected of being disinformation in our WhatsApp bot (+34 644 229 319) and contribute your expert knowledge to the fight against hoaxes: give up your Superpowers and pay attention to our electoral live, where you will know at all times how you can help us.

On the night of #23J we’ll see you on Twitch and Youtube

The election night of July 23 the Maldita.es team will also be at the foot of the cannon: we will tell you the battles, who enters and who stays out of Congress and the Senate, and we will be attentive to possible disinformation about the recount that appear. You will be able to follow the recount on our website –in the special «Elecciones Generales 2023»– and in our Elections Special on Maldita Twitchería, where the Maldita.es team will be accompanied by experts who will analyze the results.

A calm analysis of the electoral disinformation by DRI and Reset

Acting quickly against hoaxes during election time is important, but it is also necessary to analyze them in order to propose effective measures against disinformation in the future. That is why we teamed up with Democracy Reporting International to study disinformation and the electoral conversation on social networks during the month leading up to the elections and to understand the development of political debate on networks. Also, together with Reset, we will analyze online disinformation during the campaign and examine the actions taken in this regard by different platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, in compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Code of Practice on Disinformation.

Because together, it is more difficult to be cheated.