Collaborative fact-checking: Analysis of six initiatives to combat disinformation in election campaigns in Europe and Latin America

Abstract

Collaboration between newsrooms on investigative reporting or fact-checking projects has gained momentum in recent years. Journalists around the world have joined forces to combat disinformation, especially in election campaigns. This article analyses six collaborative monitoring projects in electoral processes in Europe (France, Spain and the European Union) and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay) that illustrate the concern of journalists and civil society institutions to combat disinformation. Based on a quantitative and qualitative methodology, the study answers four questions: the composition of collaborative networks, methodologies and verification models; the volume of work and content published; the actors of verification and the attention paid to the statements of candidates and politicians; and the results of verification and the differences between the actors and consortia analysed in each region. The results show the weight of disinformation in campaigning: four out of five checks detected false or misleading content. They also reveal the identification of a higher overall percentage of disinformative content in Europe (86.3%) than in Latin America (75.5%). The findings suggest that there are differences between consortia that transcend regions and point to the influence on fact-checking of professional cultures in each country. Furthermore, the comparison between collaborative projects highlights the diversity of models, methodologies and formats, which raises the importance of comparative studies to assess the type of collaboration implemented and the feasibility.