Disinformation about alleged vote rigging and mail voting, about who can or cannot vote in the general election, about what candidates have or have not said, about who has supported a party or a candidate… The stories spread by hoaxers sometimes repeat, with small variations, from one election to another, and in other cases they are created from scratch. We also need to stay alert to political statements and false claims that try to mislead us.
We want to make it easy for you, so we have brought everything together in our election special.
We launch our Live updates
In the final stretch of the election campaign, we are launching our LIVE updates: a timeline where we document the content we are verifying and the progress we make.
We know that being fast in our work is very important to increase the reach of our fact-checks, especially when we face a disinformation crisis. But sometimes we cannot get to everything: we may need an answer from an institution or the help of experts. In our live updates you will be able to see what content we are working on and collaborate with your superpowers to debunk hoaxes. Here you can check which topics you can help us with. With these live updates we also want to bring more transparency to our work: at any moment you will know what we are investigating and what information we have at that time.
Your collaboration is essential during these elections: if you have knowledge of OSINT techniques (reverse image and video search, geolocation, image analysis), or work in political science, sociology, statistics… you have a superpower we need these days. In our election live updates you can always check the content we are trying to verify so you know where you can help.
Help us fight disinformation about the July 23 general election — share your superpowers.
Comprobado: because together it is much harder for them to fool us
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 fact-check election information in Spain. In the 2023 edition, coordinated by Maldita.es, efforts focus on increasing the reach of verified content and offering useful information to media outlets to complement their election coverage. This alliance is formed by EFE Verifica, Maldita.es, Newtral, VerificaRTVE and Verificat, and distributes fact-checks free of charge to around twenty partner media outlets that have joined the coalition.
By land, sea and air: we bring fact-checks to you wherever you need them
In addition to the general election special, we continue working on social media with tools and fact-checks against election hoaxes. For example, on TikTok we answer your questions about the elections, because we know the campaign is also being fought there, where parties try to reach younger voters. During these weeks we are also collaborating with the platform by creating educational content.
We do not forget WhatsApp: in our Weekly Summary, every Saturday we will bring you the highlights of the campaign — fact-checks of the debates, debunks of election disinformation… Sign up in one click by following these instructions:
#VotaSinBulos: the anti-hoax emergency team in action
During the election campaign, the Maldita.es team activates the Anti-Hoax Emergency Team. We know that, especially during the day of reflection, many hoaxes circulate trying to influence your vote. That is why the Emergency Team will be monitoring, over the coming weekends, the content you send to our WhatsApp bot (+34 644 229 319) and will fact-check hoaxes and false claims throughout those days.
In this election campaign, we need you: these are days of battle against hoaxes, so if someone sends you a lie, reply and send them the fact-check. Do not stay silent if you see disinformation. Let us know about suspicious content through our WhatsApp bot (+34 644 229 319) and contribute your expert knowledge to the fight against hoaxes: share your Superpowers and follow our election live updates, where you will always know how you can help.
On the night of #23J we will see you on Twitch and YouTube
On election night, July 23, the Maldita.es team will also be on duty: we will tell you what is happening, who gets into Congress and the Senate, and we will watch out for possible disinformation about the vote count. You will be able to follow the results on our website — in the “General Election 2023” special — and in our Election Special on Maldita Twitchería, where the Maldita.es team will be joined by experts who will analyze the results.
In-depth analysis of election disinformation with DRI and Reset
Acting quickly against hoaxes during election periods is important, but analysis is also necessary to design effective measures against disinformation in the future. That is why we have partnered with Democracy Reporting International to study disinformation and online political conversation during the month before the election and better understand how political debate develops on social media. Together with Reset, we will also analyze online disinformation during the campaign and examine the actions taken by different platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, in compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Code of Practice on Disinformation.
Because together it is much harder for them to fool us.