Comprobado is returning ahead of the general election on 29 November to strengthen efforts to tackle electoral disinformation. The initiative brings together fact-checking organisations and media outlets with the shared goal of identifying false claims and disinformation narratives circulating during the campaign and making verified information more accessible.
From 11 November until one week after election day, EFE Verifica, Maldita.es, Newtral, Verificat, RTVE Verifica, AFP and Infoveritas will produce fact-checks on content and narratives related to the electoral process. These materials will be available on the Comprobado website and distributed free of charge to more than 20 partner media outlets to maximise their reach.
Media outlets joining the initiative will be able to republish the content in full on their own websites, use it as a source for producing other news stories, or adapt it into formats such as videos, social media posts and audiovisual content, provided they credit Comprobado.
This alliance aims to pool efforts to tackle disinformation during the electoral period, drawing on the experience and resources of fact-checking organisations to deliver a coordinated response. The collaboration makes it possible to share investigations, avoid duplication of work and ensure that verified content reaches a wider audience through the media.
Comprobado builds on a collaborative journalism initiative that began in 2019, when 16 Spanish media outlets joined forces to jointly fact-check political statements and content circulating on social media and WhatsApp during the general election campaign. The initiative returned in 2023 ahead of the general election held on 23 July. In that edition, the alliance included 24 partner media outlets, which received fact-checks free of charge to publish and share with their audiences.
The experience of both editions demonstrated the value of collaboration between fact-checking organisations and media outlets in pooling resources and expanding the reach of reliable information during an electoral process.
This edition is part of IBERIFIER 3, the European project continuing the work of the Iberian hub of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). It brings together 13 organisations from Spain and Portugal to research, detect and tackle disinformation.