Univision’s El Detector joins the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and expands its reach to debunk misinformation in the Hispanic community

Univision News' El Detector is now officialy an International Fact-Checking Network, (IFCN) signatory, after having passed an exhaustive evaluation process that lasted more than three months.

Univision’s El Detector was the first Spanish-language fact-checking site in the US. With IFCN’s certification, Univision News joins the Poynter Institute’s fact-checking network, which includes 101 of the most respected fact-checking units in the world and one of only 12 certified units in the US.

El Detector was born to debunk false messages that misinforms the Hispanic community. In addition to doing it in Spanish, it prioritizes the issues that matter and impact Latinos most.

“Having Univision’s El Detector as a certified IFCN member is very important, due to its reach in Spanish-speaking communities in the United States,” said Ferdi Ferhat Özsoy, IFCN’s program manager. “Misinformation has cost too many lives around the world during the pandemic. The Spanish-speaking community has been one of the hardest hit by covid-19 in the United States, that is why it is very important to have fact-checkers in Spanish within the IFCN network who can provide verified and trustworthy information, ”added Özsoy.

"El Detector’s team worked tirelessly during an unprecedented election campaign in 2020 and then in the midst of the pandemic," said Tamoa Calzadilla, director of El Detector. “It was very challenging because of the amount of misinformation that was spreading in the United States and what that has meant when working to serve the Hispanic community and its information gaps during the pandemic. The world of fact-checking in this country serves English-speaking audiences very well, but not Hispanics, and that is precisely the community for which we work at Univision News and, therefore, at El Detector, ” Calzadilla continued.

" El Detector has allowed us to strengthen our public service journalism, verifying and explaining data on vaccines and covid-19 when our community needs it most," said Jose Zamora, senior vice president of communications and strategy at Univision News. “As the main source of news and information for the Hispanic community, it has also allowed us to create important partnerships with the Google News Initiative, Factcheck.org, WhatsApp and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to confront the misinformation that has invaded our communities in the midst of the pandemic to continue fulfilling our commitment of informing and empowering our audience through quality journalism,” added Zamora.

As an IFCN certified fact-checking platform, El Detector is now working to enable a Spanish-language fact-checking service directly on WhatsApp.

El Detector fights misinformation with the use of graphic formats: image galleries, infographics, video pieces and TV segments on Noticiero Univision Edición Digital and Facebook Live, as well as on social media via @eldetectorunivision on Instagram, El Detector on Facebook, @UniNoticias on Twitter and Instagram, and the Univision Noticias Facebook page.

These are some examples of El Detector's work to fight misinformation:

If you want us to fact-check any message or image, please reach us at eldetector@univision.net