CLS Strategies, based in Washington, would have spent millions of dollars to spread false information about Morena on Facebook. Discrediting and fake news have become a major problem within social media and now the Mexican political party Morena appears to be the victim of Facebook. These types of harmful phenomena have proven their effectiveness in influencing perception and decision, which on more than one occasion has been used for malicious purposes. Now from Facebook, they have indicated that this problem has touched one of the most popular and controversial political forces in the Mexican market. Through a report issued by Facebook Costa-Rica Mobile Database from the United States, it indicated that a series of sales related to a network of “disinformation” linked to the company CLS Strategies were eliminated, which affected various players, including some located in Mexico. Thus, through a press release, the social network pointed out that the public relations agency CLS, based in Washington, had spent 3.6 million dollars to spread false information about Morena, A political party that is led by the current president of Mexico. , Andrés Manuel López Obrador.This same company also worked on worldwide publications that supported the political opposition of Venezuela and the interim government of Bolivia, according to what was said by Facebook.
Specifically, the Facebook report indicates that CLS Strategies had 26 fake accounts on Facebook, 36 on Instagram, and 46 pages on different platforms. Every month, Facebook delivers a report on the actions it implements to combat misinformation and false news on its platform. In this document for August, it was pointed out that it closed 13 accounts in Russia, 55 in the United States, and 453 in Pakistan. This report gains special relevance after a couple of months ago Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), reported that he will demand accountability from Facebook and Twitter about the purchase of advertising and the use of bots within his service.The president explained that he would ask these two large social networks for a list to know who their Brother Cell Phone List clients are, how paid campaigns work, and if artificial accounts (bots) are used to create movements against them within the online environment. In this way, AMLO pointed out that it is necessary to “ask Twitter and ‘Face’ to explain to us how they sell advertising for bots, and also – especially that they are accountable, that there is transparency – how much income Mexican companies per purchase advertising ”.This petition arises from what, on several occasions, the president has described as a discrediting campaign against him, an issue that has been part of López Obrador’s speech since before the elections that gave him victory.
Social networks and other digital platforms have become a gateway to democracy for many Mexicans. It is enough to remember that, according to the Internet.MX Association, that for 6 out of 10 Mexicans the new technologies and tools derived from the Internet bring them closer to the democratic processes in Mexico. The importance that Mexican voters attach to digital spaces is accompanied by an apparent clear awareness of fake news; In other words, voters in the country say they are aware of the power of influence that fake news can have in processes as important as the presidential elections. This is indicated by the results of the Mexico chapter of the 18th edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer (ETB) 2018, which indicates that 80 percent of Mexicans describe the dissemination of false news through the media as a “weapon” to include in decision making. According to the Merca2.0 Research Department, 50 percent of Mexicans recognize that the proliferation of fake news on the Internet is on the rise, so they look for a means that gives them confidence in the information it offers.
