Combating Election Disinformation: Paraguay's Media Alliance Takes a Stand

On April 30, Paraguayans cast their votes in a crucial presidential election that featured Santiago Peña of the Partido Colorado, a right-wing party which already held the presidency, and Pedro Efraín Alegre from the opposition alliance, the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, a center/center-left coalition. However, the democratic process was marred by the widespread dissemination of disinformation, which grew increasingly pervasive as the general elections approached. In response to this challenge, Paraguay's independent media organizations joined forces at the International Committee For Journalists forum to combat the spread of false information and promote accurate reporting. 

Recognizing the urgency to counter disinformation, media leaders in Paraguay, including El Surtidor, El Otro País, Emancipa, Quántico, La Volanta, and Ciencia del Sur, formed the Alternative Media Network of Paraguay. This alliance aimed to pool their expertise and resources to tackle the issue head-on. Through a collaborative approach, they’ve sought to provide fact-checking, training, and reporting resources to ensure accurate information reached the public.

El Surtidor, through its fact-checking department called "La Precisa," played a pivotal role in countering false narratives. As the sole media outlet in Paraguay with a dedicated division for fact-checking, El Surtidor focused on verifying public discourse, social networks, and messaging channels. In collaboration with other native digital media outlets, such as El Otro País, Emancipa, Quántico, La Volanta, and Ciencia del Sur, they conducted verifications based on their respective areas of expertise. "These media organizations are undertaking this work for the first time, and the goal is for this pilot experience to pave the way for expanding the alliance to other events of interest to the audience in the future. Each outlet publishes through their own channels, and La Precisa shares the content," Alejandro Valdez, co-founder of El Surtidor, said.

Moreover, El Surtidor launched a collaborative initiative known as the Minga, in which Valdez said that volunteers "joined an intensive session to learn how to identify, contrast and classify electoral disinformation, in addition to collaborating with the database.” 

“The aim of this space was to make our work methodology transparent to those who consume our information," Valdez explained. Led by Natalia Leal, the director of Agencia Lupa (a prominent fact-checking organization in Brazil) the training focused on identifying and debunking electoral disinformation. More than 30 professionals actively participated, fostering a united front against false narratives.

El Surtidor, through its social media channels, played a crucial role in raising public awareness about election disinformation. They shared explainers and insightful content to help the audience identify the most common formats of disinformation. A notable Twitter thread highlighted seven types of disinformation and offered guidance on how to debunk them effectively.

The Media Alliance also focused on dispelling "encuestruchas"—polls with false or manipulated data that often go viral and have a profound effect on the electoral process—as well as conspiracy theories and narratives of electoral fraud (such as those promoted by former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro as well as former U.S. President Donald Trump). By shedding light on these tactics, the alliance aimed to fortify the public's ability to discern truth from falsehoods.

In addition to combating disinformation, a separate network of nine media outlets took to social media to provide clear, concise, and accurate information for Paraguayans. Using hashtags like #eleccionespy2023 and #otramirada ("A different view"), they conducted collaborative coverage, offering diverse analyses, interviews, and information to counterbalance the narrative presented by traditional media.

Ultimately, Colorado Party retained the presidency. At the age of 44, President-elect Santiago Peña will become the country's youngest president since Paraguay restored democracy in 1989, surpassing outgoing incumbent Abdo Benítez's record, who was 46 years old when he was elected to the presidency in 2018. During the election, the media alliance aired live interviews and shared their process with the public—an effort to hopefully safeguard against election interference in Paraguay’s future.