USA, the fight against fake news directed at the Hispanic community

2024-09-22 10:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Hispanic population in the United States relies on social media to stay informed. As VOA correspondent Cristina Caicedo reports, misinformation on social media spreads rapidly. Newsrooms and media outlets are scrambling to find new ways to combat the spread of fake news and keep the public well-informed ahead of the November US election.

In the United States, Hispanic news media are trying to combat fake news and explain to communities how and where to vote.

"This election year people are looking to be more informed and have a lot of questions. When we share a news, we always have questions about it", says Claudia Ginestra with the weekly newspaper "El Tiempo Latino" published in the American capital.

The newspaper reports news that affects the interests of the Hispanic community and uses social media to communicate with the audience.

"Currently, the short videos we post are attracting a lot of people. This is the fastest and most efficient way to communicate with the audience", says journalist Claudia Ginestra for Voice of America.

Pew Research Center surveys show that Hispanics are informed primarily through the Internet and social media. They use the apps WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram, according to media company Nielsen.

To provide the community with the information they need, the newspaper "El Tiempo Latino" uses fact-checking tools or enlists the help of the partner organization "Factchequeado".

Founded in 2022, the nonprofit monitors misinformation and disinformation in the Latino and Hispanic community in the United States.

"As the November elections approach, the community faces many challenges. Likewise, we who try to inform them have many challenges," says Laura Zommer, founder of the fact-checking organization "Factchequeado".

One of the challenges is artificial intelligence.

"For example, on TikTok we see a video published with a disinformation story and then we see two other videos with the same story from different users but saying the same thing," says Ms. Zommer.

Disinformation aims to spread fake news.

"A fake news story that gets spread a lot is the conspiracy theory that claims non-US citizens are voting."

Speed ??is key to combating the spread of fake news, which spreads quickly on social media, Ms Zommer says.

But the "Factchequeado" organization has at its disposal a powerful tool, the cooperation with dozens of partners in 22 countries. Newsrooms such as "El Tiempo Latino" use the "Factchequeado" organization to verify data.

“The Hispanic community is being misinformed or misinformed when it comes to politics. But we are seeing that our audience wants to be informed and learn", says Marcos Porras with the newspaper "El Tiempo Latino".

Among other things, the newspaper posts on social media explanatory videos on the electoral process in the United States. The aim is to fill the lack of data that can be used by negative elements to spread fake news or disinformation./ VOA