In Argentina, Students Find Citizens Disinclined to Believe Everything They Read or Hear
For one of SIPA’s Spring 2023 EPD Workshops, a team of students examined mis- and disinformation at the behest of the UN Development Program. They recently shared reports from both Argentina (below) and Kenya.
Our Capstone project aims to examine the landscape of mis- and disinformation within countries from the Majority World, with particular attention to the eroding effect it can have on electoral integrity. Our client is the UN Development Program—specifically its Accelerator Labs Network, which has 91 country offices across 115 countries. Each office is designed to be a nimble experimenter and innovator that conducts small-scale initiatives to accelerate the pace of international development.
As the bedrock for this project, our team reviewed the work from all 91 labs to determine whether any location focused on mis- and disinformation initiatives. The evidence pointed us to the Accelerator Lab country offices in Argentina and Kenya. On March 10 we departed for Buenos Aires; landing in the city at the break of dawn, we knew our counterparts were traveling to Nairobi on a similar mission.
Over the course of the next week we traveled around the capital city (which was in the midst of a historic heat wave) to meet and interview experts in the field of mis- and disinformation. Speaking with academic researchers, fact-checking organizations, journalists, professors, and state actors, we realized we had found a city was already well-versed in the fight against mis- and disinformation.
It was apparent from the start that there is an incredible amount of democratic pride felt by many Argentine citizens. In almost every interview we conducted, someone spoke of the privilege and opportunity afforded to them by democratic processes. Having watched the award-winning movie Argentina, 1985 in advance of visiting the country and with the jaw-dropping revelations afforded by the Resurrección performance fresh in our minds, it was clear why this sentiment was so universal.
Interviewees spoke about the living memory of the dictatorship existing in their institutions and guiding how citizens engaged with information. One informant related it to the Argentine trick-taking card game Truco, noting that Argentines are not ready to believe everything they read or hear, and there is always a degree of healthy skepticism. Some felt that the history of the country acts almost as an antidote to the consumption of mis- and disinformation.
We found evidence of other potential antidotes as well. Thanks to organizations like Chequeado, the first organization dedicated to verifying information in Argentina and in broader Latin America, fact-checking is fairly normalized in public discourse. Chequeado has conducted live fact-checking during presidential debates in the past and expects to do so again for the upcoming presidential elections in October 2023. In addition, ahead of the 2019 presidential election, over 100 media organizations collaborated to form Reverso, an agreement to produce and distribute fact checks about the election. While there is nothing binding in the agreement, Reverso was agreed upon again for the 2021 midterm elections and is expected to be in play for the 2023 elections, demonstrating that accuracy and reliability of information remains top of mind.
There were resounding calls for more digital literacy programs. While we (regrettably) were unable to attend Lollapalooza, a massive musical festival that was hosted in nearby San Isidro at the tail end of our visit, we did speak with the director of the UN Information Center for Argentina, who told us about the UN stand that would be there. The stand’s theme this year was disinformation, and festival goers were able to engage with UN staff about how to detect and combat disinformation. It was a targeted effort to raise awareness among the younger generation about the dangers of spreading disinformation.
Among all of these efforts to address mis- and disinformation, however, it was impossible to miss the signs of a country fighting tremendous economic upheaval. Argentina’s inflation rate is the worst it's been in over 30 years, rising past 100 percent in February and choking purchasing power for everyday citizens. The country has a complicated system of multiple exchange rates, with a “blue dollar” rate that is nearly double the official exchange rate.
We were cautioned by some informants that it is the economic and social landscape we need to be watching as the signs that mis- and disinformation could find strongholds in elections. Misogynistic online discourse was brought up as a serious issue facing women in Argentina, but the opportunity to introduce hateful rhetoric into the mainstream can present itself when a unifying force can carry the message.
For example, the radical conservative presidential candidate Javier Milei has gained ground by uniting Argentines who are losing patience with the two dominant parties, the ruling Peronist Frente de Todos (FdT) coalition and the Juntos por el Cambio (JC) coalition, to solve their economic woes. Milei, however, has already promised that if he were elected president, he would seek to shut down the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity. He also has plans to eliminate all public works and eliminate the central bank.
It is evident that no country, Argentina included, is immune to the rising wave of populism. However, perhaps it is true that the country is better equipped with antibodies to fight the mis- and disinformation that follows such a wave. One thing is for certain, the pride with which Argentina cherishes its democracy might be the single most powerful tool in their fight for the truth.