Update (10/13/22): YouTube has now terminated two of the channels highlighted below, Super Viralisimo and BLes Mundo, for apparently violating community guidelines.

Update (9/9/22): Since publication, YouTube has removed two videos referenced in this article for violating its community guidelines. Five other videos noted by Media Matters also appear to have been taken down by the YouTube channels themselves.

On YouTube, many Spanish-language videos pushing the myth that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen are still up, despite the platform having explicit policies prohibiting this and having pledged to work with lawmakers on the issue of Spanish misinformation. If YouTube does not start to address this content in earnest, we could easily see another wave of Spanish election misinformation on the platform this midterm cycle. 

The platform – which has a track record of allowing questionable content slide in its Spanish-language videos – had previously promised to suspend channels that promoted voter fraud content following the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Media Matters has identified a number of YouTube videos — posted both in the lead up to the Capitol attack and in the past year — that spread a variety of election conspiracy theories, from fraudulent ballots to voting machine errors. Many of the videos violate YouTube’s election misinformation policies. 

Some Spanish-language videos from our review were given a banner (without explicitly stating that the video is misinformative) with a link to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or The Bipartisan Policy Center website, while others were not given a banner at all — indicating that even minimal content moderation efforts have been inconsistent.

The voter fraud myth has been repeatedly debunked, and these channels are explicitly violating  YouTube’s misinformation policies by promoting it.

Spanish YouTube channels are spreading election fraud misinformation

YouTube has explicit election misinformation policies that prohibit content that could interfere with the democratic process:

YouTube’s policy then includes a non-exhaustive list of examples of content types “not allowed on YouTube, including”:

• “Claims that a candidate only won a swing state in the U.S. 2020 presidential election due to voting machine glitches that changed votes.

• Claims that dead people voted in numbers that changed the outcome of the U.S. 2016 presidential election.

• Claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.

• Claims that the U.S. 2020 presidential election was rigged or stolen.

• Claims that fake ballots were dumped to give one candidate enough votes to win a state in a past U.S. presidential election.”

The YouTube channels Epoch Times en Español, Super Viralisimo, and BLes Mundo, with a combined subscriber count of over 880,000, have repeatedly violated YouTube’s misinformation policies:

The Epoch Times en Español

• Epoch Times en Español, the Spanish language counterpart to the Epoch Times, falsely claimed that more than 432,000 votes for former President Donald Trump were removed in Pennsylvania during the 2020 presidential election. The January 5, 2021, video featured comments from host Elina Villafañe, who said in a segment on Pennsylvania that “according to the group [Data Integrity Group] composed of scientists, engineers and experts in AI, thousands of votes for President Trump, both on the day of the election as well as the day of mail-in ballots were removed from the totals in at least 15 counties.” This video violated the elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that a candidate only won a swing state in the U.S. 2020 presidential election due to voting machine glitches that changed votes.” There was no evidence suggesting that voting machines deleted votes for Trump. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a statement saying, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

• Villafañe used a video of election workers in Georgia – a video that was also weaponized by the right-wing media — to make the false claim that the workers snuck in fraudulent ballots in suitcases, giving President Joe Biden the lead in the state. On December 8, 2020, Villafañe said, “Because they’re going to recount these potentially fraudulent votes multiple times, what’s the point of a recount? The real question is where did these ballots come from?” This video violated the elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that fake ballots were dumped to give one candidate enough votes to win a state in a past U.S. presidential election.” 

• Villafañe used a singular story of a man that cast a fraudulent ballot for Trump in the name of a deceased relative to falsely claim that the Democratic Party committed the same act on a wider scale. Epoch Times en Español posted a December 22, 2020, video in which Villafañe said, “Similar to how this Republican voted for his deceased relatives, the same could have happened with the Democrats." This video violated the elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.” Most allegations of dead people voting were debunked, while other cases involved Republicans. 

• Villafañe peddled the fictitious claim of widespread voter fraud by saying that multiple witnesses saw votes for Trump being counted in favor of Biden during a recount in Georgia. On December 23, 2020, she stated in a video that “more than 40 witnesses in Georgia talked to the media at the Republican Party's headquarters. The witnesses presented evidence of electoral irregularities and the word beginning with 'F', you guys already know we are avoiding censorship of YouTube.” This video violated the elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.” There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the U.S. during the 2020 presidential elections. Voter fraud is extremely rare and the U.S. has strong checks in place to protect the integ­rity of the voting process.

BLes Mundo

• BLes Mundo, a right-wing site that regularly publishes conspiracy theories and was found to have connections to the Epoch Times, shared a Project Veritas’ video and falsely claimed that the Texas Democrats bought votes for Biden illegally. BLes Mundo posted a November 12, 2020, video in which the host Jorgelina Claverie said, “The journalistic group, Project Veritas, conducted an investigation with a hidden camera in Texas, and exposed how a Democratic adviser bought voters illegally.” She went on, saying, “Their strategy was to buy the votes of the elderly in order to benefit the Democratic party.” This video violated the elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.”

• One of the BLes Mundo hosts, Miguel Diáz, said that 57,764 fraudulent votes were found during a sham Arizona audit of the 2020 presidential election. The September 25, 2021, video featured comments from Diáz, who said that thousands of these fraudulent ballots were “duplicate ballots” from “people who voted twice," or from people who were not residents of the state. This video violated YouTube’s elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.” The Arizona Senate GOP's “audit” did not find 57,000 fraudulent ballots. No evidence of widespread double-voting, illegal voting, or fraud was found in the election.

• BLes Mundo promoted the unfounded claim that there were more votes counted than the number of actual voters in Pennsylvania. On December 29, 2020, BLes Mundo posted video in which the host stated that a group of Republican legislators found “more than 200,000 votes than the number of electors who voted.” This video violated elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.” According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, there were not more votes than voters in Pennsylvania. This claim was based on incomplete data. In total, there were nearly seven million votes cast during the 2020 presidential elections in Pennsylvania and the total number of registered voters was just over nine million.

Super Viralisimo

• Super Viralisimo host Victor Londoño falsely claimed that Trump “catapulted” to the presidential win because “everyone voted for him,” and that more than 60,000 minors voted. Super Viralisimo posted a December 5, 2020, video in which Londoño spewed several electoral fraud narratives, including claims that criminals voted during the 2020 election. He claimed, “2,506 criminals voted, my friends, in Georgia! Also 66,248 registered minors voted." This video violated YouTube’s elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that the U.S. 2020 presidential election was rigged or stolen.”

• Super Viralisimo’s other host Alberto Franco spread the lie that a Philadelphia mob boss made 300,000 fake ballots for Biden. The November, 20, 2020, video featured comments from Franco, who said, “New testimonies show the involvement of criminal organizations behind the fraudulent votes in the state of Pennsylvania.” This video violated YouTube’s elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that fake ballots were dumped to give one candidate enough votes to win a state in a past U.S. presidential election.” There is no evidence suggesting that the Biden campaign hired a mob boss to fabricate hundreds of thousands ballots in Philadelphia. Election experts said that this claim is “inconsistent with actual election data.”

• Londoño echoed Judicial Watch’s baseless claims of massive voter fraud in which “1.8 million ghost voters” were found in 29 states. On November 4, 2020, Londoño stated in a video, “There’s a trial to find 1.8 million phantom voters in 29 states. This is how they warn about fraudulent elections in the U.S.” This video violated the platform’s elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that widespread fraud or errors occurred in a past U.S. presidential election.” The narrative regarding 1.8 million “ghost voters” remains unproven as the faulty data used by Judicial Watch, a right-wing organization known for spreading misinformation, to back up this claim was misleading.

• Franco echoed Trump's former attorney Sidney Powell’s false claims that fraudulent ballots were coming to the U.S. from China and Mexico. The December 6, 2020, video featured comments from Franco, who cited Powell saying that ballots from Mexico and China “are still entering the country and could be used for second rounds or in the recount.” Franco also peddled other election fraud claims, linking “voter irregularities” to Smartmatic voting machines. This video violated elections misinformation policy regarding “claims that fake ballots were dumped to give one candidate enough votes to win a state in a past U.S. presidential election.” Election experts said that the possibility of foriegn countries printing millions of counterfeit ballots is highly unlikely.