•HRES 1471 IH 
nized in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, done at 
Lima September 11, 2001; 
Whereas the vulnerability of existing information environ-
ments in Latin America and the Caribbean and the grow-
ing spread of inaccurate or false news through 
disinformation and misinformation activities pose serious 
threats to democratic governance and human rights in 
the Americas, which are likely to be further exacerbated 
by the rise of disinformation generated and enhanced by 
artificial intelligence; 
Whereas disinformation and misinformation activities in 
Latin American and the Caribbean have— 
(1) promoted harmful, false narratives spread by the 
People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, 
according to research by Global Americans and the Equis 
Institute, including with respect to the COVID–19 pan-
demic and the unjustified invasion of Ukraine by the 
Russian Federation; 
(2) posed risks to the integrity of electoral processes 
throughout the region, including in Brazil, Colombia, and 
Mexico, according to a report entitled ‘‘Disinformation in 
Democracies: Strengthening Digital Resilience in Latin 
America’’ issued in March 2019 by the Atlantic Council; 
(3) contributed to protests in Bolivia, Chile, Colom-
bia, and Ecuador, oftentimes amplified by operations 
linked to the Russian Federation, according to reporting 
by the New York Times; 
(4) contributed to the exploitation of migrants by 
human smuggling networks that drive irregular migra-
tion, according to multiple investigations by the Tech 
Transparency Project; and 
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•HRES 1471 IH 
(5) contributed to a rise in xenophobic violence 
against migrants and refugees, according to multiple 
sources, including the Digital Forensic Research Lab; 
Whereas information environments are closely interconnected 
between the United States and Latin America and the 
Caribbean, such that disinformation and misinformation 
flows between Latino populations in the United States 
and populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, ac-
cording to a report entitled ‘‘Latinos and a Growing Cri-
sis of Trust’’ issued in June 2022 by the Equis Institute; 
Whereas, according to the report entitled ‘‘Measuring the Im-
pact of Misinformation, Disinformation, and Propaganda 
in Latin America’’ issued in October 2021 by Global 
Americans (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Global 
Americans Report’’), intra- and extra-regional actors op-
erate independently and in tandem to create and spread 
disinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean on 
both traditional and digital media platforms, including 
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, and 
Telegram, where such activities are amplified through co-
ordinated inauthentic behavior, such as the use of bots, 
trolls, and cyber troops; 
Whereas political actors throughout Latin America and the 
Caribbean have manipulated domestic information envi-
ronments by targeting citizens through disinformation ac-
tivities, including in— 
(1) Brazil, where former President Jair Bolsonaro 
had a direct role in spreading electoral disinformation, 
according to the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil and 
the Federal Police of Brazil; 
(2) El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele uses 
coordinated inauthentic networks to attack political oppo-
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•HRES 1471 IH 
nents and bolster the perception of support for his poli-
cies, according to reporting by Reuters; 
(3) Guatemala, where malicious actors with links to 
the then ruling party of former President Alejandro 
Giammattei carried out information operations to artifi-
cially amplify narratives eroding trust in the country’s 
2023 electoral process and targeting now President 
Bernardo Arevalo and his political party Semilla, accord-
ing to research by the Digital Forensic Research Lab; 
(4) Honduras, where actors linked to former Presi-
dent Juan Orlando Hernandez developed coordinated 
inauthentic networks to spread falsehoods about, and un-
dermine support for, opposition party candidates, accord-
ing to reporting by Time; 
(5) Mexico, where President Andre´s Manuel Lo´pez 
Obrador spreads false and misleading narratives against 
the media and other independent institutions, according 
to research by the Digital Forensic Research Lab; and 
(6) Venezuela, where actors linked to the regime of 
Nicola´s Maduro have engaged in a sustained and syn-
chronized campaign of disinformation to undermine the 
country’s 2023–2024 electoral process, invalidate the re-
sults of such elections, and attack Maria Corina Machado 
and other opposition leaders, according to multiple 
sources, including the Digital Forensic Research Lab; 
Whereas, 
in 
addition 
to 
spreading 
and 
amplifying 
disinformation against their own populations, authori-
tarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have 
also engaged in such activities against other countries in 
the region for purposes of undermining democratic values 
and spreading narratives contrary to the interests of the 
United States and its allies, including through coordi-
nated efforts with extra-regional actors, such as pub-
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•HRES 1471 IH 
lishing and amplifying false narratives by Russian state- 
controlled media outlets; 
Whereas, according to the Global Americans Report, the Gov-
ernments of the People’s Republic of China, the Russian 
Federation, and the Islamic Republic of Iran have en-
gaged in disinformation and propaganda operations 
aimed at undermining the influence and interests of the 
United States in Latin America and the Caribbean, par-
ticularly through the use of state-affiliated media net-
works targeting Spanish-speaking audiences, such as 
CGTN TV and Xinhua News, RT and Sputnik, and 
HispanTV; 
Whereas, according to a public statement by the Department 
of State on November 7, 2023, the Russian Federation 
is 
‘‘currently 
financing 
an 
on-going, 
well-funded 
disinformation campaign across Latin America’’, includ-
ing in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, 
Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
and Uruguay; 
Whereas, according to the Digital Forensic Research Lab and 
EUvsDisinfo, the Russian Federation considers social 
media outreach to Spanish-speaking and Portuguese- 
speaking audiences an important component of its state- 
sponsored media strategy, and the Spanish-language so-
cial media accounts of Kremlin-controlled media RT and 
Sputnik have more followers and engagement than their 
English- and Russian-language counterparts and com-
parable programming from the United States Agency for 
Global Media; 
Whereas information environments in Latin America and the 
Caribbean are further distorted by the rise in the practice 
of disinformation for hire, by which political actors 
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•HRES 1471 IH 
outsource information operations to regional and extra- 
regional public relations firms that impersonate local 
news outlets, civic organizations, and other entities 
through fake social media accounts and engage in other 
deceptive practices to create and amplify disinformation 
for profit; 
Whereas the threats and effects of disinformation and misin-
formation in Latin America and the Caribbean are exac-
erbated by— 
(1) the widespread use of social media and closed 
messaging platforms, where disinformation and misin-
formation is spread faster and farther, as primary com-
munication and news sources, as indicated by the Reuters 
Institute Digital News Report 2022; 
(2) high barriers of access to other forms of inde-
pendent media and low media and digital literacy rates 
that lead to the unintentional spread of disinformation 
and misinformation; 
(3) growing levels of distrust in public institutions, 
as indicated by recent AmericasBarometer surveys by the 
Latin American Public Opinion Project; and 
(4) low levels of transnational coordination among 
relevant stakeholders within the region; 
Whereas, on March 3, 2017, the United Nations Special 
Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the 
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 
(OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the 
Organization 
of 
American 
States 
(OAS) 
Special 
Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, and the African 
Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Special 
Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to In-
formation issued a declaration entitled ‘‘Joint Declara-
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•HRES 1471 IH 
tion on Freedom of Expression and Fake News, 
Disinformation 
and 
Propaganda’’, 
which 
cautioned 
against 
the 
criminalization 
and 
regulation 
of 
disinformation and misinformation activities and called 
instead for joint efforts by relevant stakeholders; 
Whereas some current efforts by governments in Latin Amer-
ican and the Caribbean to counter disinformation raise 
serious freedom of expression concerns that run counter 
to the recommendations made in the ‘‘Joint Declaration 
on 
Freedom 
of 
Expression 
and 
Fake 
News, 
Disinformation and Propaganda’’; 
Whereas government and political actors in some Latin 
American and Caribbean countries have undertaken nota-
ble efforts to address the threat of disinformation in ways 
consistent with the protection of freedoms of expression 
and the press, including— 
(1) political parties in Uruguay, which signed an 
ethics pact in April 2019 pledging to not generate or pro-
mote disinformation against political adversaries; and 
(2) the national electoral institution of Panama, 
which engaged in joint workshops with the electoral insti-
tutions of Argentina in June 2019 and Costa Rica in 
September 2021 to share best practices on monitoring 
and countering information operations on social media; 
Whereas, despite discernible progress in taking down ac-
counts 
used 
by 
prominent, 
often 
foreign-backed, 
disinformation networks to engage in coordinated 
inauthentic activity and partnering with regional stake-
holders, efforts by social media companies, including 
Facebook and Twitter, to address disinformation and 
misinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean con-
tinue to be hampered by— 
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•HRES 1471 IH 
(1) insufficient resources and attention devoted to 
countering such activities in low- and middle-income 
countries, as documented by multiple sources, including 
the Facebook Papers; 
(2) significant gaps in the detection and enforcement 
of Spanish-language disinformation and misinformation 
relative to such English-language activities; 
(3) enduring barriers to transparency and access for 
social media datasets and algorithms that are critical to 
independent disinformation and misinformation research; 
and 
(4) limited cooperation among social media compa-
nies 
on 
plans 
and 
best 
practices 
to 
mitigate 
disinformation networks operating across platforms; 
Whereas independent media, civil society, and academic 
groups have launched several initiatives to address 
disinformation and misinformation on social media and 
closed messaging platforms in Latin America and the 
Caribbean through fact-checking, media and digital lit-
eracy, and information sharing services, including 
Chequeado, Comprova, Verificado, and Cazadores de 
Fake News; and 
Whereas the United States has pursued efforts to support the 
strengthening of information environments, promote inde-
pendent media, and counter disinformation activities in 
Latin America and the Caribbean, including through ini-
tiatives led by the Global Engagement Center, the United 
States Agency for International Development, the United 
States Agency for Global Media, and United States em-
bassies in the region: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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•HRES 1471 IH 
(1) recognizes the serious threats the distortion 
of information environments through the creation 
and amplification of disinformation and misinforma-
tion on traditional and digital media platforms poses 
to democratic governance and human rights in Latin 
America and the Caribbean; 
(2) denounces independent and coordinated ef-
forts by malicious actors to create and amplify 
disinformation in the Western Hemisphere, including 
foreign information operations led by the Govern-
ments of the People’s Republic of China, the Rus-
sian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Cuba, 
and Nicaragua and the Maduro regime in Venezuela; 
(3) urges social media companies to take addi-
tional steps to address how social media platforms 
are used to facilitate malicious activities, including 
disinformation, in Latin America and the Caribbean, 
including by— 
(A) devoting significantly more resources 
to monitoring how such platforms are being ex-
ploited to spread false news, incite violence, and 
interfere with democratic electoral processes in 
the region; 
(B) strengthening detection and removal 
enforcement capabilities against sources of 
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•HRES 1471 IH 
Spanish-language 
and 
other 
non-English 
disinformation content; 
(C) improving transparency over regional 
content 
moderation 
efforts 
to 
counter 
disinformation, the training and auditing of so-
cial media algorithms for Spanish-language and 
other non-English content, and datasets critical 
for disinformation and misinformation research; 
(D) expanding and strengthening partner-
ships with local actors, including initiatives with 
third-party fact checkers and independent, 
democratic electoral institutions; 
(E) investing in media and digital literacy 
education in the region; and 
(F) strengthening coordination with one 
another on plans and best practices to help 
limit the spread of disinformation content on-
line; 
(4) calls on governments in Latin America and 
the Caribbean to counter disinformation activities 
and strengthen information environments by— 
(A) bolstering regional mechanisms to co-
ordinate responses and share best practices on 
countering disinformation; 
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•HRES 1471 IH 
(B) advancing efforts by political parties 
and other actors to publicly commit to refrain 
from generating or amplifying disinformation 
content through coordinated inauthentic behav-
ior or outsourcing such activities to public rela-
tions firms; and 
(C) safeguarding and strengthening free 
and independent media, promoting fact-check-
ing, increasing use of digital forensics, and 
boosting media literacy efforts by civil society, 
journalists, and academia; and 
(5) calls on the President and the heads of all 
relevant Federal agencies and departments to 
strengthen the role of the United States in coun-
tering 
the 
creation 
and 
amplification 
of 
disinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean 
and bolstering regional information environments, 
including by— 
(A) increasing support for the activities de-
scribed in paragraph (4); 
(B) ensuring strong support for and co-
ordination of concurrent efforts between all rel-
evant bureaus and offices of the Department of 
State and the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development; 
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