Media and fact-checking on X during the electoral debate ahead of Spain’s July 23 general elections

On July 10, 2023, Atresmedia hosted a one-on-one debate between prime ministerial candidates Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) and Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP) as part of the campaign leading up to Spain’s July 23 general elections. The event was criticized on social media, particularly on X, for the moderators’ lack of real-time fact-checking. This study analyzes the 594 tweets posted by Spain’s major mainstream media outlets and fact-checking organizations on X before, during, and shortly after the debate. It assesses the number, timing, and content of these tweets, examining whether they focused on fact-checking, context, opinion, candidate statements, or infotainment. The study also evaluates whether the media and fact-checkers served as an alternative source of fact-checking during the debate’s broadcast. Of the 16 media outlets analyzed, only three (18%) provided such content on X; when fact-checking organizations are included, the percentage of accounts performing this role rises to 35%. Only 6.2% of the tweets checked facts, 2% offered context, and nearly half (47%) simply relayed candidate statements. Infotainment accounted for 27.8% of the tweets, opinion analysis for 12.8%, and chronicling for 4%. Against a backdrop of social polarization and disinformation, the media largely failed to perform a fact-checking function during this debate.