scenario is one of an increasing and expansive use of social media for disinformation in the last ten years, especially by public figures.” 5A similar concern was voiced by Veridiana Alimonti (interview, August 2021) from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): “It’s important to take into consideration the role of political actors in this dissemination and to think about how this interacts with other elements that we see in other countries, like Honduras, like the armies of trolls that attack people not only through disinformation but through political violence.” Paulo José Lara (interview, August 2021) of Article 19 also highlighted this aspect, extending it to political forces associated with rulers: “We see that political actors are responsible—not only public authorities but also people connected with them. In Brazil, religious people who have a lot of influence in groups, public security agents who already have some kind of authority.” The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light forms of disinformation related to health issues. The world has experienced what researchers and authorities have called an “infodemic,” or the intense circulation of misleading messages related to the pandemic, including regarding the origins of the virus, its severity, symptoms, the responsibility of public agents, guidelines from health authorities, vaccination, and ostensibly miraculous cures. A report released by Diálogo Interamericano (Christie, Lanza, and Camilleri 2020) pointed out the risks of disinformation produced in the context of the pandemic and also drew attention to the role of government leaders. In Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro reproduced the narrative about the pandemic being a Chinese creation. The government of Nicaragua disseminated speeches that downplayed the severity of the pandemic. In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro talked about the supposed Chinese origin of the virus and called it a “little flu.” A survey on misinformation in Latin America by Fundación Bruno Kessler (López-Calva 2020) pointed out that 59 percent of news items in the sample published on social media could be considered reliable. The rate was lower than the world average, which stood at 71 percent. I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH 4.2 ACTORS AND STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DISINFORMATION In Latin America and the Caribbean, responses to disinformation have come from actors of different origins and institutional profiles, including civil society organizations, fact checkers, universities and research centers, public institutions, international organizations, and digital platforms. These actors have developed initiatives which involve fact checking, the monitoring and correction of false content, the production of research and information, media education and public awareness campaigns, advocacy in the executive and legislative branches, strategic litigation, and the provision of assistance to victims of disinformation. CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS In civil society, there are a number of actors that are active in fields such as digital rights, freedom of expression, and access to information. A number of them have started to look closely at the problem of disinformation and developed initiatives to search for solutions to the phenomenon. There are a number of international civil society networks active in the region, such as the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). More recently, regional coalitions, such as AlSur, have also been created. There are organizations with an international scope that run projects in the region, such as Article 19, Access Now, the EFF, and Reporters Without Borders, and there are Latin American entities with a regional scope, such as Observacom (based in Uruguay), the Centro de Estudios en Libertad de Expresión y Acceso a la Información (CELE, Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, based in Argentina), and Derechos Digitales (based in Chile). APC APC6 is an international network that tackles various issues associated with communication, from access to information to freedom of expression. The organization participates in global debates about communication, including disinformation, alongside international bodies such as the UN (in the figure of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression), presenting contributions and participating in events on the subject. It is specifically concerned with disinformation that targets vulnerable segments, such as women and environmental activists. The association also supports member entities in debates about the issue in their respective countries, as in, for Latin America and the Caribbean – 84