The impact of misinformation on Spanish-language social media platforms

US Latinos who rely on social media in Spanish for their news are more vulnerable to political misinformation than those who use English-language social media, according to a study. Misinformation swirls on social media in every language, but social media companies struggle to combat disinformation circulating in Spanish on major social media platforms. In a study done in partnership with Jonathan Nagler of NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics as part of the group’s Bilingual Election Monitor project, Marisa Abrajano and colleagues surveyed over 1,000 English-dominant, bilingual, and Spanish-dominant Latino users of Facebook and Instagram in the US, offering a monetary incentive for participation. Each participant was asked whether they believed seven false political narratives, including the claim that Venezuela was intentionally sending criminals to the US, the claim that most Planned Parenthood clinics have closed down across the country in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, and the claim that the COVID-19 vaccine can make breast milk dangerous to infants. Latinos who use Spanish-language social media for news were 11 percentage points more likely to believe in false political narratives than those who use English-language social media for news. According to the authors, the study offers evidence that misinformation circulating on social media in Spanish leads to factually inaccurate political beliefs, which could have important consequences for democracy.