A report compiled by MediaLab, a communication sciences research center at ISCTE, in partnership with the National Election Commission (CNE) and the Lusa news agency, aims to identify and quantify the impact of misinformation in the legislative campaign of May 18.
The report highlights the spread of a video containing unfounded claims regarding the number of immigrants in Portugal. The audio allegedly features a security guard working at the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA), claiming that the number of immigrants in Portugal had exceeded 1.9 million by April 2025.
Preliminary data from AIMA, released earlier this month, indicated that by the end of December 2024, there were 1,546,521 registered foreign citizens in Portugal.
The video, marked with the emblem of the Reconquista group known for its anti-immigration stance, circulated on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, as noted by MediaLab.
It only gained national attention when Pedro Frazão, a Chega party deputy, replicated the narrative on CNN Portugal, claiming that the number of immigrants had surpassed two million.
On TikTok, multiple versions of the CNN broadcast have garnered 7,300, 2,200, and 1,511 views, respectively.
A clip of the CNN broadcast remains available on Pedro Frazão’s Facebook page, amassing over 1,300 likes and around 240 comments.
Another misinformation incident involved Chega party deputy António Pinto Pereira, who falsely asserted in an Instagram video that “there are no longer any fishermen at Praia dos Pescadores in Cascais,” as part of criticism against the mayor. This claim was later debunked by Polígrafo, according to the report.
In an interview with the Lusa agency, José Moreno, a MediaLab researcher, mentioned Chega’s role in spreading misinformation in Portugal, employing a strategy referred to as the “disinformation trumpet.”
Moreno explained that misinformation often starts from a small source, with little initial impact, but gains significant traction when amplified by influential political or non-political figures.
The researcher recalled a similar “trumpet effect” incident during the pre-campaign period for the March 2024 legislative elections. A social media post inaccurately suggested that Ventura’s caravan was met with gunfire in Famalicão, Braga, which was later confirmed to be motorcycle backfires.
The National Election Commission (CNE) and MediaLab at ISCTE, in partnership with the Lusa news agency, are monitoring social media to identify and assess the impact of misinformation during the May legislative campaign.
The project, run through the MediaLab Research Laboratory at the Center for Research and Sociology Studies (CIES) of the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE), will collaborate with Lusa in producing weekly journalistic reports, similar to previous legislative and European elections in 2024.
Contents tracked by MediaLab will be classified as misinformation by three Portuguese fact-checkers accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN): Polígrafo, “Observador Fact-Check,” and “Público – Prova dos Factos”.
MediaLab will generate weekly reports with data and analysis of social media impact, measured in terms of reach and interactions, focusing on candidates and campaigns over the preceding seven days, including evaluations of the reach of identified misinformation.
