Digital Fabrication Against El Ciudadano: False Article Attributed to Cooperativa Debunked

Original article: Montaje digital contra El Ciudadano: desmienten falsa nota atribuida a Cooperativa

A misleading image started circulating on social media in recent days, falsely attributing to Radio Cooperativa a headline claiming that El Ciudadano was among the media “trained by Russia to spread fake news against the right.”

However, the situation was not as it appeared. According to verification by Fast Check, this was a digital fabrication: the article simply never existed.

The image gained traction amid the uproar from a report published in Argentina on April 3. Nevertheless, the content shared online was a manipulated piece that mimicked Cooperativa’s graphic style, lacking any backing on their official site or institutional channels.

Fast Check Debunks False Article Attributed to El Ciudadano by Cooperativa

According to the verification carried out by Fast Check, there is no record of Cooperativa publishing an article with the circulated headline.

The investigation included targeted Google searches focused on the media’s site, alongside inquiries on X and Instagram. In none of those spaces was there evidence that the publication had ever existed. Additionally, a basic yet revealing element emerged: the profiles promoting the image did not share any verifiable links, only the screenshot.

This pattern was emphasized by the media outlet itself.

Cooperativa Confirms the Publication Never Existed

The digital media deputy director of Cooperativa, Raúl Martínez, directly denied the disseminated content and confirmed that the article never existed.

“Indeed, I became aware of that screenshot imitating Cooperativa’s site on Sunday night, but that content has never existed on our site, and that is why the accounts spreading lies—as usual—attach an image and never the link to the supposed article.”

With this statement, the verification was concluded: the article attributed to Cooperativa was false, and the accusation against El Ciudadano had no real foundation.

Pressure Mounts on Accounts That Spread the Fabrication

But the episode doesn’t end with the verification. It also raises a political question regarding the origin and circulation of the fabrication.

Various accounts that propelled the image have been linked, within the digital ecosystem, to sectors associated with the Republican Party and the Secretary of Communications (SECOM). For this reason, pressure is mounting for both sectors to publicly clarify whether there is any relation to the dissemination of this false content.

So far, there has been no statement.

This silence also matters. Because when a fabricated piece is set in motion to strike at a media outlet, it’s not enough that it later disappears among posts and timelines. Someone pushed it, someone circulated it, and someone hoped the lie would cause damage before being debunked.

Ultimately, the fabrication has been dismantled, but that does not diminish its gravity. Because when a publication is falsified to attack a critical media outlet, the intention is not to inform: it is to poison the debate and tarnish those who are uncomfortable.