How Social Networks Displaced Political Debate in Colombia

Just days before the second round of the presidential election on June 21, 2026, digital platforms consolidated their hegemony as the definitive campaign arena in Colombia, shifting the focus of democratic deliberation to mobile screens. The milestone that confirmed this structural change occurred on the eve of the first round, when major networks like Noticias Caracol were forced to cancel their final presidential debate due to the refusal of the leading candidates to attend—an absence that analysts described as a symptom of an unprecedented information gap in the country’s electoral culture.

This migration shifts the terrain of the final vote: the second round is no longer contested on a television set under the rules of the stopwatch and the journalistic counter-question, but in digital distribution, where the speed of consumption and the segmentation of the message prevail.

The decline of the television format is a strategic calculation by campaigns to gain total control of the discourse. By shifting interaction to their own channels through controlled live broadcasts and pre-produced formats, political teams eliminate programmatic oversight and prevent real-time technical rebuttal.

An example of this shielding occurred with the release of a simulated debate from the first round, using AI-generated images that recreated the candidates’ figures without their actual participation—an episode that sparked debate about the ethical limits of digital impersonation.

During the final stretch of the campaign, strategists replaced open press conferences with closed virtual rooms where the candidate pre-selected audience questions, or opted for one-on-one interviews to avoid macroeconomic scrutiny and real-time fact-checking.

Discourse segmentation by interface

Social media networks fragment a candidate’s message based on user behavior. TikTok, X, and Instagram Reels drive rapid emotional engagement, stripping complex policy reforms down to short, attention-grabbing video clips. Meanwhile, YouTube acts as an archive where campaigns park long-form presentations for their loyal supporters. This separation allows a candidate to project wildly different personas to different audiences simultaneously.

The challenge of synthetic disinformation and closed channels

The use of synthetic content and digital manipulation tools marks the most critical point of electoral disinformation. The fact-checking team at the newspaper El Tiempo documented the massive circulation of an AI-cloned video in which Ivan Cepeda’s voice was impersonated, issuing false threats of political revenge against voters in Santander and Norte de Santander. This video garnered over 5,000 views on social media before being debunked.

Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) activated a technical monitoring protocol for manipulated videos. These measures follow an Ombudsman’s Office report showing that both candidates failed to meet basic truthfulness standards. The finding underscores a critical reality: while voters mostly use technology for memes and entertainment, voice-cloning technology remains the most subtle and dangerous tool for political deception.

The flow of less auditable information is shifting to closed instant messaging channels like WhatsApp. The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) warned in its monitoring reports that private messaging chains have become the primary vehicle for disseminating false information about electoral rules and alleged disturbances to public order.

The impact of this tool lies in the sender’s proximity, a communication phenomenon that analysts call proximity trust, which describes how content gains greater credibility for citizens when received directly from a family member or neighbor. This technical invisibility to fact-checkers makes closed chats the most efficient engine for mobilizing or dissuading undecided voters.

The reality of connectivity in Colombia

While mobile platforms dominate urban centers, deficient national infrastructure limits digital campaigning elsewhere. MinTIC data confirms that rural connectivity gaps and poor high-speed coverage in peripheral regions force campaigns back into public squares to mobilize voters. This contrast proves that although the electoral script is written for smartphone screens, winning the presidency still demands a physical presence and traditional party machinery in rural Colombia.