Pedro Sánchez reaffirms his commitment to strengthening democracy in joint declaration with Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, participated via videoconference in a meeting within the framework of the 'In Defence of Democracy' initiative, together with the presidents of Chile, Gabriel Boric, Brazil, Lula da Silva, Colombia, Gustavo Petro and the president-elect of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi.

The meeting, aimed at following up on the commitments agreed at the launch of the initiative during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week last September, addressed the threats facing democracies.

The leaders participating in the meeting signed a communiqué in which they reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening democracy and its institutions. They also addressed the challenges posed by inequality and the malicious use of social media and other digital technologies, which fuels extremism and the polarisation of societies.

President Sánchez set out the three key measures that the Government of Spain has been advocating to effectively tackle disinformation on social media. Firstly, he underlined the importance of establishing a system of pseudo-anonymity, stressing that anonymity cannot be an instrument for impunity and disinformation. In this regard, he defended the need to guarantee people's privacy and their right to act under a pseudonym in order to guarantee their democratic participation, while advocating the elimination of the millions of fake profiles that influence public conversation.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during the videoconference with the presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Secondly, he stressed the importance of promoting transparency in algorithms, and emphasised that authorities must be able to examine the functioning of social networks without limitations in order to ensure content moderation and fact-checking as legal and moral requirements. Thirdly, he emphasised that the leaders of large social networks should be held personally accountable for breaches of laws and rules that occur within their platforms.

All leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation to address these challenges, as well as to strengthen democracy and build a more secure and prosperous future for their citizens.

Pedro Sánchez also made reference to the importance of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Seville, and which will be key to sending a message of confidence and support for the multilateral system.

Non official translation