Real Video, False Claim: Disinformation in the Colombian Elections

The Colombian elections, held in two rounds—the first on May 31, 2026, and the second on June 21, 2026—were won by Abelardo de la Espriella, a right-wing candidate supported by U.S. President Donald Trump. Throughout the election process and its aftermath, many people posted on various social media platforms about the elections and their results. While some of these posts reflected factual information, others contained misleading content created for disinformation purposes.

One example of such misleading content is a video posted on X on June 22, 2026. The 13-second video was shared by SALVARANM, who claimed that supporters of candidate Iván Cepeda Castro burned Abelardo de la Espriella’s ballots in Plaza Mayor in Medellín. The video was viewed more than 250,400 times and received over 4,800 likes.

 

The video shared on X was first examined to determine its authenticity. To this end, it was analyzed using HIVE Moderation. The analysis revealed that the video contains real footage and was not generated by artificial intelligence. In other words, it was assessed as depicting a real event.

To better understand the context of the event and verify the accuracy of the claims, both Grok and Gemini were used for further analysis. Both tools concluded that while the video is authentic, the claims made in the post are false and misleading. Gemini specifically noted that the small burning object seen in the video is not an official ballot, pointing out that ballots used in Colombia are significantly larger.

Similarly, Grok found that although the video contains real footage, there is no evidence to support the claims made in the post. According to Grok, the assertion that the video shows ballots being burned cannot be verified, and the footage is being misrepresented.

In conclusion, the video contains real footage and does not appear to be AI-generated. However, investigations show that it does not depict the burning of election ballots belonging to Abelardo de la Espriella, as claimed. This example demonstrates that even authentic footage can be used to mislead the public when it is presented with false or unverified claims. It is therefore crucial to verify not only the authenticity of such footage but also the accuracy of the claims that accompany it.