![Disinformation war engulfs Mexican presidential race](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/3a/bc/09/Disinformation-war-engulfs-Mexican--518764.jpg)
-
Coughlin clings to lead at LPGA Canadian Women's Open
-
Trump offers tech sector policy flips ahead of election
-
Spacecraft to swing by Earth, Moon on path to Jupiter
-
What's the fallout of Mexican drug lords' capture?
-
Video game makers see actors as AI 'data,' says union on strike
-
Chinese qualifier Shang to face Thompson in ATP Atlanta semis
-
Concern grows as Venezuela blocks election observers
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Blinken, in Laos, set for talks with Chinese foreign minister
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
G20 pledges to work together to tax ultra-rich
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
Stocks rise as US inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
Norris hoping for more after topping Belgian practice times
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Harris gets vital Obama backing in battle against Trump
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Stocks rise as inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
![Disinformation war engulfs Mexican presidential race](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/3a/bc/09/Disinformation-war-engulfs-Mexican--518764.jpg)
Disinformation war engulfs Mexican presidential race
Does Mexican presidential front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum want to make circumcision compulsory and close a revered Catholic church? No, it's all part of an election disinformation war.
The June 2 vote is not only being fought with campaigning in the streets, but also online, where the war is often based on false rumors, many of them debunked by AFP factcheckers.
Internet users using old videos or footage taken out of context have repeatedly accused opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez of wanting to scrap outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's social programs.
Sheinbaum, the granddaughter of Jewish migrants, has faced unfounded rumors that she wants to make circumcision mandatory and turn the Basilica of Guadalupe into a museum.
Such disinformation generates confusion that undermines confidence in candidates and discourages voting, said Felipe Lopez Veneroni, a political analyst and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The hate speech creates "a completely irrational and emotional narrative, which is motivated more by fear than by the clarity of the proposals," he said.
False rumors reaffirm "prejudices that many people already have -- they believe what they want to believe," Veneroni said.
- 'Exclude and dissuade' -
Both Galvez and Sheinbaum -- who are competing to be Mexico's first woman president -- have been accused online of having lied about their university degrees.
Such attacks present them "as weak, incompetent or incapable of leading," said Frine Salguero, executive director of the Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute, a Mexico City training center for women.
"They seek to exclude and dissuade women who participate in the political sphere. Unfortunately it's a reflection of Mexican society," she added.
Immigrants have also been dragged into the disinformation war, accused of being bought with social assistance from the government in return for voting for Sheinbaum.
In reality, only 83,000 naturalized migrants are able to cast ballots -- a tiny fraction of the 99 million people registered to vote.
The National Electoral Institute has clarified that it does grant the right to vote to foreigners without Mexican citizenship.
Accusations of fraud and doubts surrounding an electoral process are often commonplace on social media.
Days before the Mexican election, some users were still confused by misinformation about how they should mark their ballots, or whether pens provided by the electoral institute contain ink that can be erased.
Such falsehoods can sway voters and even alter the course of the elections, said Martha Tudon, digital rights officer at the rights group Article 19.
"It can be very serious in places where people don't have full internet access, only to WhatsApp and Facebook," and cannot verify what they receive, she said.
According to a study released by UNESCO last November, 61 percent of Mexicans get their information through social media.
J.Horn--BTB