On September 19, 2024, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Chair of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) introduced a bicameral resolution expressing concern about Spanish-language disinformation and misinformation across Latin America and the Caribbean and how it affects communities in the United States. While social media companies are failing to address these threats, some political actors and foreign states use misinformation to undermine democratic governance, human rights, and independent media.
In addition to Cardin, Luján, and Castro, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and U.S. Representatives Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Dina Titus (D-NV), Norma Torres (D-CA), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) are co-sponsors of the resolution.
The Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) was proud to offer insights into the text.
The resolution also cites multiple papers and projects Roberta Braga, DDIA Founder and ED, led both during her time as Director of Counter-Disinformation at Equis Research and during her time at the Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center (with the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)), with Jacobo Licona, Luiza Bandeira, José Luis Peñarredonda, and others.
Online harms are cyclical and borderless. Content being created and spread in the United States affects those in the region, and vice versa. Latino information ecosystems and networks are connected and our experiences need to be centered in discussions where decisions are being made about the future of governance online. DDIA thanks these leaders for spearheading this effort.