#Verified2018 is a collaborative journalism initiative that has the participation of approximately 60 media, universities and civil society organizations to stop false news and verify the speeches of the candidates.
Looking ahead to the upcoming elections, in which more than 16,000 popularly elected positions will be at stake, Animal Político, AJ + Español, Pop-Up Newsroom and Newsweek en Español launch #Verificado2018, a collaborative initiative between the media to stop the phenomenon of false or malicious news through an exhaustive review of the information that circulates on the internet and social networks, to verify if it is true or false.
This project was born after observing that in countries like the United States, during the electoral process that led Trump to the presidency, more than 10 million potential voters had access to false news disseminated on social networks.
This phenomenon directly influenced the decision of the voters and was also present in the elections in the United Kingdom, France and during the so-called “Catalan crisis”, and although in Mexico it is not yet a massive phenomenon, we want to prevent it from also happening during our elections.
Confirmed, accurate and rigorous information is the key to decide freely.
The project intentionally takes up the name that a group of young people during the earthquake of September 19, used to inform and serve as a bridge between those who needed assistance and those who could provide it, and thus avoid the dissemination of false data that only served to confuse, generate panic and / or divert help.
The false information has a meaning similar to that faced in the earthquake: it confuses, paralyzes, scares. And therefore, it undermines the freedom of the citizen to decide who he wants to vote for.
For this reason, Forbes Mexico joins #Verificado2018 to:
- Detect fake news and disprove it.
- Verify speeches, spots, interviews of the candidates to confirm if what is said is true or not.
- Verify, live, the sayings of the presidential candidates in the three debates organized by the electoral authority and publish results in real time.
- Verify the viability of the main campaign promises of the candidates.
- Generate informative content that explains the key steps of the election and prevents the spread of false news.
- Verify the information generated on the day of the election –and the days immediately afterwards– on alleged incidents that may inhibit the exercise of the right to vote.
- Offer the reader a WhatsApp line to ask about the veracity of the chains they receive in this way.
Even in the three scheduled presidential debates, a team of journalists, together with specialists in public policy, will review numbers, proposals, and criticisms of each candidate to inform whether what is said is true or a lie.
#Verificado2018 will have its own newsroom, which will permanently review social networks and trends to know what information is being shared and analyze whether it is true or false content.
The verified information will be published on a page created expressly for this project: Verificado.mx, which will be online from Monday, March 12. It will also be broadcast on the twitter accounts @VerificadoMx and Facebook / Verificado2018.
When a note is released with the “Verified 2018” seal, it is because it was reviewed and analyzed and the result has the support of all partners.
The initiative has the support and financing of Facebook and Google News Lab, as well as Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad; Open Society Foundation, Oxfam and Twitter.
“Fighting misinformation requires all of us: technology companies, media, educational institutions, and our own community. That is why we are happy to join Verificado, an initiative backed by prestigious media and organizations in the country that seeks to improve the quality of information ”Facebook, through Luis de Uriarte, manager of Facebook's Strategic Alliances for Mexico.
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