Event Summary
Between 27 September and 10 October 2025, Bolivian fact-checking platforms Bolivia Verifica and Chequea Bolivia, along with independent journalist Joaquín Martela, were targeted by smear campaigns and threats. These attacks followed their verification of racist tweets from 2010 linked to Juan Pablo Velasco, vice-presidential candidate of Alianza Libre. Though Velasco denied the authenticity of the tweets and called it a political attack, the fact-checkers confirmed the tweets came from an account registered to his party.
The verification triggered online harassment, intimidation, and legal threats, with Chequea Bolivia receiving 24 social media attacks in just under two weeks. The campaign has been deployed not only through comments, but also through televised interviews, videos and private messages that have dismissed the work of the fact-checkers. Martela also faced threats of legal action. These actions are part of a broader pattern of political cyberbullying, particularly in a context of economic crisis, political polarization, and rising disinformation in Bolivia.
Journalistic and civil society organisations, including the National Association of Journalists of Bolivia and the National Coalition to Combat Electoral Disinformation, condemned the attacks and expressed support for the fact-checkers.
A report noted that Bolivia Verifica identified 442 pieces of disinformation on social media from January to August 2025, underscoring increasing political polarisation and the crucial role of fact-checkers during elections. However, increasing digital harassment and smear efforts threaten to censor or silence journalists and undermine public trust in reliable information sources.
Cyberbullying of journalists, media outlets and rights defenders is a constant reality, although little reported. Between January and June 2025, the UNITAS Human Rights Observatory has identified six cases of cyberbullying against journalists, mainly linked to their investigative work. The actors from which these attacks come are in some cases public officials linked to the complaints and in other cases anonymous users.
In the long term, if adequate protection and regulation measures are not adopted against disinformation and digital harassment, this type of attack could consolidate a structural pattern of political harassment that weakens the media’s oversight role and restricts citizens’ right to access truthful information, thereby hampering their ability to participate in political decision-making.