With the support of Tactical Tech, we developed a project to explore the “Influence Industry” and the landscape of digital campaigns during the elections in Paraguay. After several months of research, this effort culminated in the launch of the Policy Brief “Industria de la Influencia,” a document addressing electoral manipulation through social media, the opacity in campaign financing, and the lack of regulation for handling personal data for political purposes during the 2023 general elections in Paraguay.
Our research identified that 43 national and international companies provided digital propaganda services to 156 electoral campaigns in Paraguay. Of these campaigns, only 24 were led by women, reflecting both a growing reliance on technology in politics and deep gender inequalities in access to monetary resources for digital political campaigns. These findings highlight the need to update our electoral laws to adapt to the digital age, improving transparency, access to resources, and ensuring the protection of personal data in electoral contexts.
To promote the launch of this new research, we developed a communication campaign focused on amplifying the project’s impact. For three weeks, we disseminated the main messages of the research through our digital platforms, including videos and informative flyers. Additionally, we collaborated with the local NGO Semillas para la Democracia and other organizations to maximize our reach. The campaign metrics showed a high level of interaction and participation, which translated into wide visibility in both digital and print media, confirming the relevance and timeliness of the topics addressed.
To continue our digital campaign, we officially launched the Policy Brief at an in-person event that brought together journalists, academics, and civil society organizations, with whom we shared printed versions of the document. Furthermore, we organized a webinar in association with Tactical Tech and Semillas para la Democracia, aimed at creating a space to discuss electoral reform in Paraguay and its intersection with digital issues, providing a valuable resource for those interested in understanding how the influence industry manifests in Paraguay and how it connects to a global context. The webinar featured Ana María Salinas from Tactical Tech, Leonardo Gómez and Eduardo Carrillo from TEDIC, and Marta Ferrara from Semillas para la Democracia.
In the future, we plan to connect the findings of this research with other studies, especially on online gender-based violence against female politicians. We will continue to disseminate the results in events and training sessions in different cities of Paraguay and collaborate with electoral authorities to implement our recommendations.
We invite everyone interested in democracy, political financing, and electoral transparency to download and read our Policy Brief “The Influence Industry in paraguayan elections” to better understand these challenges and join the promotion of reforms in our electoral system.