“We are fighting against the enemies of democracy”

The meeting was forged during the last visit of Pedro Sanchez in Brazil, in March of this year. There, the President of the Government listened to his colleague, Lula da Silvawho explained how the hoaxes spread on the networks translated into an attack on state institutions and Sánchez understood the message.

Before the famous five days of reflection arrived, but already with a plan against disinformation in mind, Sánchez and Lula agreed to form an international forum to address the phenomenon of “fake news.”

He could only be captured this Tuesday, when the two leaders presented an event titled “In defense of democracy. Combating extremism“, as one of the side events taking place during the United Nations General Assembly, which is being held this week in New York.

There, Sánchez asked that it be “the first of other meetings” and thus “coordinate a global phenomenon that has its national translation in each country.” “The enemies of democracy must be to respond with the same tenacity and the coordination they demonstrate. We surpass them with our principles and values,” Sanchez said.

The president also defended his so-called Action Plan for Democracy – his project against what he himself has called the “mud machine” – as the main advance that Spain has made in this regard, “in accordance with European regulations.”

“The rise of far-right movements is due to a international coordination among themselves. Our opponents have large sources of funding. “They do not recognize the results of the elections, deny science or climate change and question the participation of women in politics and economic affairs,” said the Spanish president.

And in the face of these challenges of “disinformation” and “spread of hate speech” through the networks, Sánchez proposes his plan for democratic regeneration as a model for the rest of the countries.

Disinformation in Brazil

Earlier, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, co-organizer of the event with Sánchez, spoke out. Although it was actually Lula who led the initiative from the beginning.

The Brazilian leader said that “democracy is living its most delicate moment.” since World War II” and said that a “thorough debate” is needed to understand “what the reasons are.”

Lula recalled that on the very day he took office, in January 2023, dozens of extremists tried to seize presidential institutions in Brasilia, the country’s capital.

Allegations that the progressive leader falsified the election results spread on social media and since then Brazilian institutions have been waging open war against the owners of these platforms.

The climax came a month ago, when a Supreme Court judge ordered immediate closure of the social networkformerly Twitter, since its owners refuse to block accounts that spread hoaxes and refuse to comply with Brazilian national legislation.

Limits to freedom of expression

“Freedom of expression is a right, but it is not absolute“The networks have become a breeding ground for hate speech and xenophobia, and democracies will be threatened until we solve this problem,” Lula said.

The Brazilian president added that there is “an explosive mixture of violence and disinformation” and assured that it was necessary to analyze why “democracy has become an easy target for the extreme right.”

In the forum, which was attended by about twenty leaders, there was not an excessive presence of renowned leaders. The French President, Emmanuel Macronhad confirmed his presence, even if he was ultimately absent.

Lula also said he would have liked him to come Joe Biden but that could not be the case either. On behalf of the European Union, the head of the European Council was present, Charles-Michelas the main representative.