City Council Tackles Disinformation with New Monitoring Scheme
Barcelona City Council will spend up to €804,568 to monitor social media and digital news platforms for fake news and hoaxes, with the contract extendable to a maximum of €885,025 under terms published in tender documents. The initiative, aimed at protecting the city's reputation and democratic discourse, will begin in 2027 and run through 2028, with a possible 24-month extension. The council has launched a tender for an external company to detect, classify, verify, and act on false or misleading content mentioning the municipality. The service will monitor Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, Threads, and digital media outlets around the clock, analysing mentions in both Catalan and Spanish.
AI and Human Review to Combat False Narratives
The monitoring system will use artificial intelligence to flag content within 15 minutes of publication, based on keyword alerts and sentiment analysis. AI will act as a first filter, categorising content by theme, such as security or administrative procedures, sentiment, and type of disinformation, including false, decontextualised, or manipulated content. This data will be cross-referenced with the council’s official database. A human reviewer will then confirm whether the content is disinformation before any action is taken. Over 100,000 mentions are expected to be analysed annually. A municipal study from the second half of 2025 found 44,000 mentions in six months, 20% of which were negative. Of these, 111 narratives were identified, with 31 deemed harmful or persistent enough to require official rebuttal or removal requests.
The council argues disinformation is an economic, social, and democratic problem that threatens coexistence, trust, and the city's international reputation.
Part of Broader Plan to Promote Media Literacy
The monitoring effort forms part of the city’s Plan to Promote Critical Thinking and Awareness of Disinformation among Children, Adolescents, and Youth (2026–2030). Mayor Jaume Collboni announced the initiative in May 2026, later confirming the creation of an Observatory Against Disinformation during the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards. Collboni described the work of journalists as "essential" and said the new measures aim to "combat lies and protect democracy." The council aims to shift from a reactive to a proactive stance in countering digital disinformation, which it calls a "particularly fertile ground" for manipulation and hate speech. The Strategic Procurement Office of Barcelona City Council, which oversees tenders with social and environmental criteria, is managing the contract process. Details of awarded contracts will be published via the council’s Contractor Profile portal.
Sources: Metrópoli Abierta (CA), Ajuntament de Barcelona.
