The organization uses the definition of the HighLevel Expert Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation of the EU, which leaves out, for example, hate speech. The group produced a report with an analysis of the problem that has served as the basis for strategies adopted in the bloc in recent years (European Commission 2018). According to Pino, “disinformation appears on social media as a falsified idea, a WhatsApp audio that is not real. There is a distinction between what in English is called misinformation and disinformation, the latter having an economic objective or seeking to damage reputation or identity.” According to Martha Tudón (interview, August 2021), from Article 19 in Mexico, “disinformation” will never be a precise concept. She notes that rumors have always existed and points out the difficulty of assessing intentionality, a central aspect of the practice, as well as the effects these strategies seek to achieve, especially in the case of political authorities: When there is an intention to lie on the part of the public authorities in order to manipulate society, this is what worries us the most. Those who are in public office have an obligation to always speak the truth. What worries us most, therefore, is the public money used for this, the contradictions that come from the different discourses between the state and government apparatuses. 11.2 FACT CHECKING The survey undertaken for this study revealed a large number of fact-checking initiatives in the region. The number of fact-checking initiatives vary greatly by country, as shown in Table 1 earlier in this report. Chile leads the way, with twelve, followed by Brazil, with nine. Mexico and Colombia, both countries with economic weight in the region, have four and three respectively, and Argentina has two. Smaller countries still have only one, as in the cases of Paraguay, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. In terms of the territorial dimension, it was evident from the research that there is an enormous concentration in the countries’ capitals or largest cities. The existence of groups outside the capitals is an exception, as in Chile and Mexico. Although most of the projects are run by national organizations, there is one international initiative in the region: AFP Factual. There is also an international presence through funding and support. Here two types of agents stand out: digital platforms and foundations from the USA and from European countries. This I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH carries the risk of the local projects’ work being influenced by the outlook of northern institutions, which could compromise an independent approach from a regional perspective.60 Regarding profile, there is a mix of institutional structures. Most initiatives are linked to media outlets (thirty projects in total). In general, these types of initiatives are established as branches of traditional media outlets. Some of them are more structured, with their own names and websites, while others merely consist of news presented through keywords or tags. In some cases, communication vehicles cooperate on joint factchecking projects, such as Comprova from Brazil. There are also examples of autonomous initiatives created by civil society organizations, such as PolétikaRD from the Dominican Republic, or by academic institutions (five initiatives), such as Bolívia Verifica. Initiatives developed by collectives of journalists or workers from different categories include Chequea Bolivia and El Surtidor in Paraguay. In some instances, these collectives have set up websites or created associations, but in others, they joined forces expressly for the purpose of creating a verification project, as is the case with Salud con Lupa Comprueba in Peru. Many of these agencies go beyond fact checking. Several of them produce their own investigations and journalistic content on topics of interest. Examples include Chequeado’s contextualized stories in the section called “El Explicador”61 and the investigations carried out by Verificado in Mexico. Fact checkers in Latin America have also joined forces to create Latam Chequea. The sharing of experiences and the networking opportunities presented by this network can be an important element in the fight against false content, which, in many cases, crosses national borders. 11.3 MEDIA LITERACY In the region as a whole and in the countries analyzed for this report, several initiatives related to media education and public awareness raising on the problem of disinformation have emerged. As for the type of intervention, these initiatives can be divided into five types: Latin America and the Caribbean – 1 1 3