GARANTÍAS DE LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN EN REDES SOCIALES Y MEDIOS. DOCTRINA DE LA JUNTA ELECTORAL CENTRAL DURANTE LOS COMICIOS ESPAÑOLES CELEBRADOS EN 2023.

ALFONSO, LORETO CORREDOIRA Y.

Regarding the state of the question (Chapter 1. Introduction) we note, on the one hand, that in Spain there is a legal vacuum about the regulation and responsibility of social networks (as pointed out in STS 35/2022), to which is added that the entire European Union is awaiting the effective application of the recent Digital Services Act (DSA) of 2022. On the other hand, during election periods, it is the electoral boards that are legitimised in the first instance to set limits. However, social networks have sometimes acted as «parallel electoral boards» taking automated decisions or not affecting parties, coalitions, or candidacies; Twitter (now X), Facebook (now Meta) or WhastApp, for example. In chapter 2, we address the legal guarantees against disinformation, highlighting, on the one hand, freedom of the press and freedom of expression and, on the other, the institutional role given to the electoral authorities in Spain by Organic Law 5/1985 of 19 June 1985 on the General Electoral Regime (LOREG). Chapter 3 specifically analyses the decisions of the Central Electoral Board (hereafter JEC), both in the precampaigns for the elections of 28 May and 23 July 2023 and in the campaigns themselves. While in the former case we focus on the use of social networks by candidates (Instagram and Twitter), in the latter case we highlight cases related to narratives and hoaxes of postal vote fraud, as well as decisions of the Board on media coverage, television debates, opinion columns, or journalists' access to rallies. In terms of method and development, we combined the use of primary sources from the JEC with the analysis of hoaxes and alleged fraud reported in the media, using the detection tool of the Complutense Observatory of Disinformation (Observatorio Complutense de la Desinformación). One of the conclusions is that the JEC has respected the role of the press and the media's right to communicate in art. 20 (Spanish Constitution). And another is that, in the necessary updating of the LOREG, the role of the JEC must be strengthened because, in practice, they do not currently have the capacity to respond to the level or dimension of the problems encountered, partly because the social networks are in other jurisdictions and because they lack the means and infrastructure for the supervision expected of them.

CORRUPT practices in elections; SOCIAL responsibility; POSTAL voting; FREEDOM of the press; DISINFORMATION; FREEDOM of expression; ONLINE social networks

Revista de Derecho Politico, 2024, Issue 120, p209

0211-979X

Academic Journal

10.5944/rdp.120.2024.41767