Like countless other journalists, Carlos Martínez used his mobile phone to aid his reporting. Texting sources, recording audio, arranging interviews and conducting phone calls—all of this was central to his work. What he didn’t know was that, for 269 days between 2020 and 2021, his phone was being monitored by Pegasus spyware. Described as “sophisticated, nearly undetectable remote monitoring,” the zero-click software can compromise a mobile device by simply sending a text message or making a phone call to the mobile number in question.
Across Latin America, journalism is under attack. “Governments are using this new weapon to discourage investigative reporting at a time of worsening corruption in [Latin America],” writes Venezuelan-American journalist Boris Muñoz. Pegasus hacks are just one of many instances of journalists under threat that The Engine Room, a non-profit social justice organisation based in the region, is looking to fight against. Their 2024 report and newly published website aim to proffer new avenues for Latin America’s journalists, activists and communities to connect, communicate and share information.
Healthier information ecosystems hold the key to change
Funded by the Open Society Foundation, the Engine Room’s report, ‘Working Towards Healthier Information Ecosystems’, is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The report describes an information ecosystem as a space “where various actors from civil society, the private sector, the public sector, media systems and communities shape and build the ecosystem simultaneously,” and adds, “it is also an ecosystem increasingly influenced and shaped by digital technologies.” The team conducted 21 interviews with 28 individuals involved in these ecosystems, asking them about the challenges they face in their work. They then took this research to representatives from various sectors with the aim of changing how information ecosystems work.
The Engine Room hosts a workshop Paola Mosso, Executive Director at The Engine Room (and a member of the Technical Advisory Council for the Spyware Accountability Fund), describes how social discontent, the rise of right-wing governments and the Covid-19 pandemic all contributed to “dis- and mis-information spreading at the speed of light”. It was in this context that the idea for their report on information ecosystems was born. “It was a critical time to not only [investigate] what was contaminating these information ecosystems,” Mosso explains, “but also to document all the ways in which the communities in the region were building strategies and pathways to healthier information ecosystems.”
Guiding their research was the question, “What do we dream of when we dream of healthy, balanced information ecosystems?” The answer? Giving people access to correct, quality information about the things that affect their lives. Spaces for meaningful debate that aim to reduce polarisation between different groups. Language justice—i.e. ensuring information is accessible in indigenous languages. A focus on the needs of historically marginalised groups. And the funding to bring this to life. The report concludes that, “We need a myriad of strategies that holistically address the various informational needs of people in different contexts. Learning from each other’s experiments can help us get there.”
Want more resources on information ecosystems?
Alongside their report, The Engine Room has also launched a new website that’s a resource for all those who work on strengthening information ecosystems. And in the spirit of minimising their environmental impact, their website was coded by a sustainable web design agency, Wholegrain Digital.
Political polarisation, platformisation and echo chambers drive misinformation
”We cannot fact-check our way out of polarisation, distrust and scepticism,” writes Courtney C. Radsch, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UCLA. A study from the UNDP shows that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) experienced the greatest increase in polarisation compared to other regions from 2000 to 2021. While trust in communities has remained the same, trust in governments and ‘most people’ has universally dropped.
Political polarisation—a growth in the divide between people with opposing political views—is increasingly prevalent due to social media. Individuals exist online in their own echo chambers: “Ideological bubbles that tend to confirm pre-conceived political beliefs.” And growing platformisation (the dominance of social media networks) means that more people use these social media echo chambers as their primary source of information and communication. All of this drives the need for healthier information ecosystems where individuals can access verified information and communicate with people beyond their own ideological bubble.
Misinformation also serves to amplify stereotypes or racist tropes about marginalised communities. Mosso explains how this “increases exclusion and polarisation, promoting harm, harassment and discrimination” in a digital sphere. Mosso points out that “marginalised groups disproportionately experience harassment [on social media].” This causes them to “choose to leave these platforms, close accounts out of fear or participate less in the digital sphere, reinforcing exclusion”.
An ideal information ecosystem would allow technology to exist in harmony with Indigenous and marginalised communities. But the Engine Room’s report revealed that technology limitations are continuing to exclude these communities who don’t always have the hardware access, skills or training to engage with technology. “Technology can help build trust or disseminate distrust,” Mosso says. “It can create more harm or it can support transformation.” She emphasises the need for “a safe digital infrastructure for social movements to work from.” This would involve “designing technologies that strengthen privacy and security and creating alternatives to extractive civic spaces where communities can express their rights and build trust.”
A zine created in The Engine Room’s workshop The Engine Room is inspiring hope for journalists, communicators and activists
Threats to journalism and activism in Latin America go beyond Pegasus spyware. Governments also track those working in the field by monitoring their movements, communication and even body temperature, enabled by the region’s low privacy laws. 83 percent of gender editors in Argentina are targeted with online violence. In Cuba, journalists’ internet access is regularly restricted, in particular when their reporting is critical of the government. These ongoing challenges may seem like a mountain to overcome.
But the work of the Engine Room is already facilitating change. Their in-person and online workshops following the release of their report “strengthened collaborations between communicators, journalists and activists in the region, contributing to building bridges between agendas, and to identifying strategies being developed across the region.” Even more crucially, they received feedback that their work “prompted a renewed sense of hope” for journalists, communicators and activists in the region.
Mosso tells us that, “Our ultimate goal with this research-driven project was to assist activists in Latin America in proactively defending their operations. [We wanted to help them] advocate effectively for stronger legal ecosystems and oversight mechanisms, while successfully raising public awareness around the current information disorder.”
Reflect on the information ecosystems in your own life
As for individuals who may not identify as activists or journalists but who want to foster healthier information ecosystems in their own lives? Mosso advises you to “experiment with alternatives to Big Tech platforms that promote privacy, safety and contribute to trust-building, instead of erosion, to build your own pluriverse of community spaces. Explore and support low-tech, open source, digitally sustainable and feminist technologies,” she adds, “along with local community-centered media.” Regarding our use of Big Tech platforms such as Meta, she encourages us to “pause and reflect: how are the platforms, media and narratives you are engaging with contributing to your communities? Are they fostering trust, dignity or joy?” Those of us familiar with the dopamine crash after doomscrolling would have to answer a resounding “no”.
Sometimes, the best information can’t be found online. “Information ecosystems are fluid and complex,” Mosso says, “and going for a digital approach may not be the answer.” Instead, “blurring the lines between online and offline” offers a chance for meaningful human connections as you seek out information, rebuilding the trust that polarisation and Big Tech have broken.
