supported a project of the São Paulo City Hall to
train young people to combat disinformation.
The OAS, through the IACHR, deals with the issue
of freedom of expression through its own Special
Rapporteur, Pedro Vaca, from Colombia, appointed
in 2021. The current rapporteurship and the
previous one, held by Edison Lanza from Uruguay,
were both dedicated to the topic of disinformation.
The subject is now included in the Rapporteur’s
annual reports, which assess events that may have
a significant impact on freedom of expression in the
countries of the region. Various topics are covered,
ranging from the identification of disinformation
campaigns, judicial processes, and legal initiatives
proposed by parliamentarians or governments to
address the issue of fake news. In each of these
reports, recommendations are presented to various
actors, especially governments.
The IACHR Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression also produces studies and publications
that aim at gathering information about a particular
topic. In 2013, it released a publication on freedom
of expression and the internet, which deals with a
range of issues related to disinformation (Marino
2013). In 2017, the OAS published “Estándares para
una internet libre, abierta y incluyente” (Standards
for a free, open, and inclusive internet), with
recommendations based on the benchmarks of
the inter-American human rights system (Lanza
2017). In 2019, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom
of Expression launched “Guia para garantizar la
libertad de expressión frente a la desinformación
en contextos electorales” (Guide to guaranteeing
freedom of expression in the face of disinformation
in electoral contexts) (RELE 2019), a document that
was produced based on an extensive dialogue with
organizations in the region. The text reviews the
literature on the phenomenon of disinformation in
electoral processes, discusses the contours of the
problem, and presents a series of recommendations
on how to confront it.
In the field of civil society, the network of
civil society organizations IFEX (Intercambio
Internacional por la Libertad de Expresión;
International Freedom of Expression Exchange),
which works to promote freedom of expression
as a fundamental right, runs a chapter for Latin
America and the Caribbean. In 2020 this chapter
launched an awareness-raising campaign aimed
at combating the dissemination of misleading
content.16 In its materials, the campaign provides
examples of untruths that have become widespread
“urban legends.” The texts and videos call on
citizens to “break the chain” of disinformation and
I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH
to deal with information on the internet in a more
conscious and critical way.
In 2020, a group of civil society organizations
from Latin America and the Caribbean, in
partnership with Google News Initiative, launched
the Digimente project.17 Among the organizations
are international entities, such as Teach for All,
and national ones, such as Enseña por Argentina,
Enseña por Colombia, and Enseña por México.
The initiative’s aim is to educate young people to
critically evaluate the information they receive and
to create and consume quality content. The project
has created a repository of educational content
and methodologies related to information and
communication technologies (ICT). This repository
includes what the team calls “best international
practices,” from which elements organized into
curricula are offered. The method has been applied
in schools in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico. The
site also publishes content on media education,
such as reflections about the anti-vaccination
movement in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
4.3 THE RESPONSES OF
DIGITAL PLATFORMS
In recent years, digital content platforms have also
drawn up responses—in the face of events such as
the Cambridge Analytica scandal and also due to
the spread of disinformation in the region, especially
during elections, as will be explored in Part II of this
report. Facebook and Instagram (apps controlled
by the conglomerate that was rebranded Meta in
2021) have developed a framework to detect false
news. Facebook and Instagram make use of factchecking agencies to analyze potentially false news.
The platforms then implement measures to limit
the reach of the content or takes it down in specific
cases (such as when it goes against scientific
conclusions or guidelines from health authorities).
Another strategy the company has announced is
the provision of contextualized information.
Facebook has also announced that
it will implement limitations for
advertisements containing disinformation
as well as transparency rules for electoral
advertising, such as the reservation of a
space—an ad library of sorts—for ads of
this nature.
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