Democracy Reporting International carried out a similar initiative for the 2021 German federal elections in collaboration with the outlet Der Tagesspiegel, and has partnered with Maldita.es to replicate it in Spain.
With the collaboration of Maldita.es, they will analyse messages from the most relevant and influential profiles in Spanish politics on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. In addition, they will draw on the analysis of content included in Maldita.es’ disinformation database to inform a more in-depth examination.
The aim is to draw conclusions about the development of political debate over the 31 days leading up to election day, by observing factors such as the number of posts, their virality and their topics. Maldita.es will also examine whether there is a relationship between data from accounts directly linked to politics and the disinformation reported by the public through Maldita.es’ WhatsApp service in their private channels. These findings will later be published in a publicly available report.