MIAMI — The proliferation of Spanish-language conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation is already intensifying ahead of the midterm elections, several Democrats and experts warned at a roundtable held Monday in Miami by congressional Democrats.
Florida International University political scientist Eduardo Gamarra said he’s been documenting a “causal link” between misinformation and disinformation and how Spanish speakers have voted in recent elections, telling members of the Committee on House Administration that it has contributed to a change in voter patterns.
The amount of false or misleading information spread in Spanish was intense in the months before the 2020 elections, as well as after the elections, including conspiracy theories about electoral fraud and assertions that former President Donald Trump won the election. False information spread on social media, as well as in closed messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram channels.
Although disinformation has spread to Latino communities across the U.S., South Florida in particular was a hotbed for misleading information. Similar to some AM radio shows in English, some in Spanish also push far-right conspiracies.
[…]
Source: Democrats, experts warn Spanish-language disinformation is intensifying | NBC News