Electoral misinformation through digital media and the response of the Electoral Tribunal of Panama during the 2024 elections. La desinformación electoral a través de medios digitales y la respuesta del Tribunal Electoral de Panamá durante el proceso electoral de 2024

Abstract

This article analyses the problem of misinformation through digital media during Panama’s 2024 general elections, at a time when internet access and social media use as a communication channel has become part of the daily life for most of the population. After identifying some verification and educational actions against misinformation in Latin American countries, the article presents various projects of the Electoral Tribunal aimed at providing Information about the electoral process, and it is focused on the work of Verificado Contigo, which is the country´s first fact-checking platform initiative against electoral disinformation.  Despite the progress acknowledged by electoral observation missions, challenges remain in the sustainability of projects beyond electoral periods, in the need to protect and develop the institutional teams that worked to combat electoral disinformation, in the importance of building alliances with media and civil society, and in the  obligation to balance regulations between the guarantee of electoral process integrity, and the respect and protection of freedom of expression.