of migrants, as well as Twitter and Instagram
profiles. The organization works together with
journalists and investigative reporting projects,
such as Colombia Check and La Silla Vacía. Based
on the information gathered, including through
social network monitoring methodologies, the
organization encourages journalistic vehicles to
combat disinformation on certain topics, such as
migration.
Linterna Verde also has initiatives to provide
technical support to civil society organizations,
such as gender justice, environmental, and drug
policy organizations. According to Cristina Vélez
(interview, August 2021) from Linterna, “they
come with different needs; there are campaigns on
social media, or there are online attacks on certain
individuals. We make a diagnosis of whether it is
worth a response or not, and we provide information
to civil society on the actors and actions that spread
disinformation.”
The organization has joined another important
initiative in digital rights in the country, Fundación
Karisma, to conduct research on knowledge gaps
concerning internet-related topics. One of the
projects involves monitoring the internal policies
of platforms and changes in these, which includes
allowed and prohibited conduct and sanctions
regarding disinformation. Another topic analyzed
from the perspective of informational gaps is
vaccines in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic:
“We researched consumption and distrust in
vaccines and information on social media. We did
an analysis of the anti-vaccine groups on Facebook
and Twitter, and we are looking to follow up on
this,” adds Vélez.
Organizations like Linterna Verde and Fundación
Karisma also act in a joint manner to influence the
executive branch and Parliament. One example was
the reform of the Electoral Code, which ultimately
included provisions related to disinformation
among the new rules.
FLIP
The Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP,
Press Freedom Foundation) acts on several fronts
to fight disinformation. One of them is analyzing the
responses of public institutions to the phenomenon
according to international and national human
rights parameters, especially regarding freedom
of expression. FLIP has articulated a dialogue with
the Bogotá City government on the issue, bringing
together civil society and journalists: “This is an
example of how to respond to institutionality. We
have to monitor how public bodies and agencies
I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH
respond institutionally to disinformation. The
process with public bodies is always collaborative,
but we can’t ignore the risks of the way institutions
deal with disinformation, especially the internet,”
explains FLIP’s Juan Pablo Madrid (interview,
August 2021).
FLIP also runs projects in the areas of training
and capacity building. The organization has sought
to promote these formative actions
in different areas in the country: “We
FLIP acts on several fronts to
have opted for training practices and
fight disinformation. It also runs
to create arenas to talk about the
projects in the areas of training
theme, in different territories. We
attempted to understand the features
and capacity building.
outside our bubble and outside the
capital,” says FLIP member Maria
Paula Concha (interview, August 2021). Among its
awareness-raising and training activities, FLIP has
promoted spaces for dialogue with journalists,
during which these professionals discuss the
challenges and problems they face in their daily
work. This information supports the creation of
good practices and tools, which can then be applied
by journalists and other press workers.
PACT FOR PRESS FREEDOM OF THE
ANTONIO NARIÑO PROJECT
In 2019, political parties and civil society
organizations in Colombia signed a pact for press
freedom to combat information disorder in that
year’s elections. The pact forms part of the Antonio
Nariño Project, led by the Fundación para un Nuevo
Periodismo Ibero-Americano (FNPI, Foundation
for New Latin American Journalism), and brought
together several political parties and foundations,
such as FLIP, the FNPI, the Asociación Colombiana
de Medios de Información (AMI, Colombian
Association of Information Media), and Germany’s
Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Proyecto Antonio
Nariño 2019).
The signatories to the pact made a commitment
to (Fundación Gabo 2019):
• respect freedom of speech during election time
• not promote false information nor fund or
engage in any disinformation practice
• promote good practices of engagement on social
media
• provide true, objective, and complete information
about parties, candidates, and movements
• promote public debate free from threats, violence, or stigmatization.
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