Report March 2025

Newtral is a media startup based on journalism, technology and new narratives through innovation, founded in 2018 by the same team of journalists who pioneered fact-checking on Spanish television through El Objetivo, presented by Ana Pastor on LaSexta. The team subsequently expanded its work by creating Newtral’s own online fact-checking and debunking platform. Newtral combines journalism, technology and data analysis to address misinformation and strengthen the quality and transparency of public debate. Its fact-checking team verifies daily statements made by politicians from different parties, public administrations and other public figures. The team is composed of independent journalists with no links to political parties, private interests or advocacy organisations. Newtral applies a transparent methodology: every fact-checking article includes a list of the sources consulted, with links whenever available, and readers are encouraged to contact the team to report errors, provide comments on published data or raise questions about its work. Newtral also has partnerships with Meta and TikTok to proactively identify and debunk misleading content on their platforms. In addition, it operates a fact-checking service through WhatsApp, allowing anyone to submit content they suspect may be false for verification. The service experienced particularly high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside fact-checking, Newtral produces other forms of journalism and reporting, with a strong focus on data analysis and on the intersection between computer science and journalism. Its multidisciplinary team brings together journalists, fact-checkers, engineers and data scientists working to improve and automate different stages of the fact-checking workflow. Newtral has expertise in deep learning, natural language processing (NLP) and data analysis. Its CTO holds a PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. For several years, Newtral’s engineering and editorial teams have collaborated on the development and refinement of AI-based tools to support fact-checking and improve digital editorial workflows. These applications cover multiple stages of the process, including social media monitoring, political speech analysis, the identification of verifiable claims and the detection of potentially misleading or false information. Since 2019, Newtral has also developed an educational area, Newtral Educación, dedicated to media and information literacy, data journalism and the promotion of critical thinking. It delivers educational programmes, workshops and training activities for schools, universities and other audiences, helping citizens develop the skills needed to critically assess information, understand digital environments and use technology responsibly.