The tricky part of the traditional fact-checking model is the speed in which fake news can reach hundreds of thousands of people, said Talia Stroud, director of the Center for Media Engagement of UT at Austin.
As it has done with most things, the current COVID-19 pandemic has made its mark on the annual celebration of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), recognized each year on May 3.
Comprova, a Brazilian collaborative project that brings together 24 media outlets in the country, started what it calls a special phase to verify information about the new coronavirus.
According to Camarena and Moreno, the Mexican president has implemented a strategy of harassment and disqualification against journalistic media that is causing a polarization of the country's press.
All political parties with representation in the Uruguayan parliament are set to sign an Ethical Pact against misinformation on April 26. The initiative was born of the Uruguayan Press Association (APU) with the purpose of politicians committing to "not generate or promote false news or disinformation campaigns to the detriment of adversaries" in the next electoral contest, reported Observacom.
Learning how to verify content from online sources is more important each day, especially as the amount of false content on the internet grows.
Two newspapers and a news agency in Bolivia face charges of "diffusion and incitement of racism or discrimination." The news agency claims it only reported what President Evo Morales said in a speech, reported the newspaper La Razón.
Mexican authorities arrested two men for allegedly tweeting rumors about violence, according to the Associated Press (AP). The state is accusing the suspects of terrorism, Milenio reported.
President José Mujica accused the Argentine and Uruguayan press of manipulating his statements, after he generated an uproar for calling Argentina “a country cut in two” by polarization, after attending the wake of former President Néstor Kirchner.