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Politics · Technology · Digital regulation  ·  where data speaks before headlines
Snapshot data
AML/OFAC enforcement against banks and fintech — 455 penalties documented 455 AML/OFAC penalties documented across 177 countries and 401 regula… CNMC Spain · the Digital Services Coordinator g… — 6 documented milestones 6 milestones in Spain's DSA Coordinator rollout; as of May 2026 still… Corporate data breaches: from incident to response — 7 breaches documented 7 corporate data breaches documented by notification conduct and outc… Digital regulatory risk index by country — 16 countries profiled 16 countries profiled by digital regulatory risk (coverage expanded w… DMA · designated gatekeepers and real compliance — 8 documented DMA acts 8 acts in the DMA gatekeeper regime: 7 designated, first final fines … Global election risk 2026: democracy and digita… — 22 elections profiled 22 2026 elections profiled by political regime (EIU) and digital envi… Electoral digital integrity 2026 — 13 elections profiled 13 elections profiled by digital integrity; 5 with transparent politi… Documented electoral disinformation 2026 — 5 documented campaigns 5 electoral disinformation campaigns or patterns documented with open… GDPR · which national authority really sanctions — 9 authorities profiled 9 national authorities profiled; ~€7.1bn in GDPR fines since 2018, bu… Digital political ad spending 2026 — 5 country-platform observ… 5 observations of digital political ad spending in 2026 elections, me… US · the state AI regulation patchwork — 8 laws and milestones 8 laws and milestones in the US AI patchwork; with no comprehensive f… Climate: the gap between pledge and action — 12 countries assessed 12 countries assessed by the Climate Action Tracker: 10 with insuffic… Power and corruption in the courts in Ibero-Ame… — 29 documented cases 29 senior officials prosecuted for corruption across 19 countries, wi… Crypto industry: collapses, sanctions and convi… — 10 documented cases 10 crypto-sector collapse, sanction and conviction cases across 4 cou… Content moderation: appeals and reversals — 19 documented decisions 19 appealed and reviewed moderation decisions, with their policy, ori… AI harms in court — litigation, rulings and set… — 100 documented cases 100 litigated AI-harm cases across 25 jurisdictions on 5 continents, … Public AI spending — global government contracts — 50 documented contracts 50 public AI contracts across 15 jurisdictions on 5 continents (45 wi… Scandal → conviction gap — — milestones logged Series starting — Odebrecht/Lava Jato as base case Technology ↔ regulation gap — 25 regulatory milestones 25 milestones across 11 jurisdictions; gaps from 0 to 22 years; Chile… Campaign promises → fulfillment — 29 term evaluations 29 terms evaluated across 25 countries on five continents Digital fines actually imposed — 60 sanctions recorded 60 high-value sanctions across 17 jurisdictions and 6 continents; cov… EU AI Act — designation of national authorities — 3 / 27 Member States Art. 70 deadline expired 2 Aug 2025 — process still open AI Act · Notified bodies for conformity assessment — 1 body with AI-specific a… Designation process opened 2 Aug 2025 · high-risk deadline Aug 2026 AI Act · Sanctions regime and its actual enforc… — 0 documented AI Act fines… Only 3 of 27 MS with both authorities designated by early 2026 EU · Consolidated DSA enforcement decisions — €120M first DSA fine · X · 5 … 5 Member States referred to CJEU for insufficient DSC implementation LATAM · Digital spending in 2026 electoral camp… — $14.794M COP · highest declared … Only 8 of 13 campaigns had reported in Cuentas Claras by mid-May Ibero-America · documented public contracts wit… — 3 contracts verified with… DC registry kickoff · ongoing monthly manual sweep LATAM · Internet shutdowns and platform blocks — 7 documented events · 202… Venezuela concentrates the region's most severe blocks LATAM · Judicial and regulatory sanctions on pl… — $5,2M USD · fine on X Corp. i… X complied with the orders and was reinstated after 39 days of suspen… Commercial spyware: documented cases worldwide — 22 documented cases 22 verified commercial-spyware cases across 12 countries on four cont… RSF · Press freedom in Latin America — 144 worst regional rank (Pe… AR -11 · PE -14 · SV -8 · EC -31 · USA -7 LATAM · AI bills in legislative process — 150+ bills identified Niubox January 2026 — only 4 Iberoamerican countries with law in force AML/OFAC enforcement against banks and fintech — 455 penalties documented 455 AML/OFAC penalties documented across 177 countries and 401 regula… CNMC Spain · the Digital Services Coordinator g… — 6 documented milestones 6 milestones in Spain's DSA Coordinator rollout; as of May 2026 still… Corporate data breaches: from incident to response — 7 breaches documented 7 corporate data breaches documented by notification conduct and outc… Digital regulatory risk index by country — 16 countries profiled 16 countries profiled by digital regulatory risk (coverage expanded w… DMA · designated gatekeepers and real compliance — 8 documented DMA acts 8 acts in the DMA gatekeeper regime: 7 designated, first final fines … Global election risk 2026: democracy and digita… — 22 elections profiled 22 2026 elections profiled by political regime (EIU) and digital envi… Electoral digital integrity 2026 — 13 elections profiled 13 elections profiled by digital integrity; 5 with transparent politi… Documented electoral disinformation 2026 — 5 documented campaigns 5 electoral disinformation campaigns or patterns documented with open… GDPR · which national authority really sanctions — 9 authorities profiled 9 national authorities profiled; ~€7.1bn in GDPR fines since 2018, bu… Digital political ad spending 2026 — 5 country-platform observ… 5 observations of digital political ad spending in 2026 elections, me… US · the state AI regulation patchwork — 8 laws and milestones 8 laws and milestones in the US AI patchwork; with no comprehensive f… Climate: the gap between pledge and action — 12 countries assessed 12 countries assessed by the Climate Action Tracker: 10 with insuffic… Power and corruption in the courts in Ibero-Ame… — 29 documented cases 29 senior officials prosecuted for corruption across 19 countries, wi… Crypto industry: collapses, sanctions and convi… — 10 documented cases 10 crypto-sector collapse, sanction and conviction cases across 4 cou… Content moderation: appeals and reversals — 19 documented decisions 19 appealed and reviewed moderation decisions, with their policy, ori… AI harms in court — litigation, rulings and set… — 100 documented cases 100 litigated AI-harm cases across 25 jurisdictions on 5 continents, … Public AI spending — global government contracts — 50 documented contracts 50 public AI contracts across 15 jurisdictions on 5 continents (45 wi… Scandal → conviction gap — — milestones logged Series starting — Odebrecht/Lava Jato as base case Technology ↔ regulation gap — 25 regulatory milestones 25 milestones across 11 jurisdictions; gaps from 0 to 22 years; Chile… Campaign promises → fulfillment — 29 term evaluations 29 terms evaluated across 25 countries on five continents Digital fines actually imposed — 60 sanctions recorded 60 high-value sanctions across 17 jurisdictions and 6 continents; cov… EU AI Act — designation of national authorities — 3 / 27 Member States Art. 70 deadline expired 2 Aug 2025 — process still open AI Act · Notified bodies for conformity assessment — 1 body with AI-specific a… Designation process opened 2 Aug 2025 · high-risk deadline Aug 2026 AI Act · Sanctions regime and its actual enforc… — 0 documented AI Act fines… Only 3 of 27 MS with both authorities designated by early 2026 EU · Consolidated DSA enforcement decisions — €120M first DSA fine · X · 5 … 5 Member States referred to CJEU for insufficient DSC implementation LATAM · Digital spending in 2026 electoral camp… — $14.794M COP · highest declared … Only 8 of 13 campaigns had reported in Cuentas Claras by mid-May Ibero-America · documented public contracts wit… — 3 contracts verified with… DC registry kickoff · ongoing monthly manual sweep LATAM · Internet shutdowns and platform blocks — 7 documented events · 202… Venezuela concentrates the region's most severe blocks LATAM · Judicial and regulatory sanctions on pl… — $5,2M USD · fine on X Corp. i… X complied with the orders and was reinstated after 39 days of suspen… Commercial spyware: documented cases worldwide — 22 documented cases 22 verified commercial-spyware cases across 12 countries on four cont… RSF · Press freedom in Latin America — 144 worst regional rank (Pe… AR -11 · PE -14 · SV -8 · EC -31 · USA -7 LATAM · AI bills in legislative process — 150+ bills identified Niubox January 2026 — only 4 Iberoamerican countries with law in force
/ trackers / latam-digital-electoral-spending
LATAM · 2026 elections · Ad transparency

LATAM · Digital spending in 2026 electoral campaigns

Registry of digital advertising spend reported by presidential campaigns during the 2026 Latin American electoral cycle, cross-referencing three sources: official spending reports (in Colombia, the National Electoral Council's Cuentas Claras platform), independent electoral observation reports (Misión de Observación Electoral, Transparencia por Colombia), and platform ad transparency libraries (Meta Ad Library, Google Political Advertising Transparency, TikTok). The tracker logs both what campaigns officially report and the gap between that declared spend and what platforms register — because most countries' electoral law in the region regulates radio, press, and TV advertising but leaves social media in a grey zone. Diálogo Ciudadano logs only figures with verifiable sources and distinguishes declared spend from third-party estimates.

Snapshot · May 21, 2026
$14.794M
COP · highest declared spend (Cepeda) as of 11 May 2026
↑ Only 8 of 13 campaigns had reported in Cuentas Claras by mid-May

Evolution

Data analysis

Statistical readings derived from the attributes of each recorded case. All figures come from the documented events; amounts are computed only over cases with a sum expressed in the indicated currency, without converting between currencies.

Records by source type

Origin of each digital electoral spending datum (electoral observation report, regulatory analysis, declared accounts…).

Reading the data

Digital spending declared by Colombia's 2026 presidential campaigns already exceeds 14 billion pesos in the largest recorded case. The figure cross-checks three sources, but depends on what each campaign reports: the declared amount is the floor, not the ceiling.

CT
Celinda S. Tórrez · Correspondent — Colombia · Bogotá
June 6, 2026 · 3 min read

Political advertising moved to the platforms, but transparency did not always follow. This tracker follows the digital spending declared by presidential campaigns in the 2026 Latin American cycle, starting with Colombia, cross-checking three sources: the official Cuentas Claras system, the Electoral Observation Mission reports and regulatory analyses.

The largest declared spend exceeds 14 billion Colombian pesos in the inter-party primary phase. But the figure must be read with caution: it reflects what campaigns report, and under-reporting is the norm in digital political advertising. The declared amount marks a verifiable floor, not the real spend, which is almost always higher. The tracker's value lies in making that floor comparable and traceable, campaign by campaign.

Methodology note

Each record cross-checks the campaign's official report with observation reports and regulatory analysis, in the local currency. The figure reflects what is declared, which by its nature underestimates the real spend. Assessments are attributed to the cited sources, never to this outlet.

Documented events (5)

May 21, 2026 CO confirmed

The grey zone: the CNE does not regulate social media ad caps

The National Electoral Council sets campaign spending caps (Resolution 4737 of 2023) and the cap is per political grouping, not per candidate. But the CNE's electoral advertising regulation covers radio spots and press and TV advertising — it sets no specific caps for social media. The Misión de Observación Electoral and Transparencia por Colombia warn this leaves digital advertising in a grey zone: campaigns must report all spending, including digital, in Cuentas Claras, but tracking is difficult when the advertiser is unidentified, as with so-called 'bodegas' or disinformation campaigns. In 2022, a presidential campaign spent over COP 1 billion on digital advertising in just 30 days.

El Espectador · Más de $1.000 millones en pauta en 30 días ↗ MOE · Financiación de las campañas 2026 ↗
May 11, 2026 CO confirmed

Sergio Fajardo and Claudia López report smaller spends; general reporting lag

Sergio Fajardo reported COP 1.401 billion in spending (COP 1.576 billion in income). Claudia López recorded far lower figures: COP 87 million in income and COP 86 million in spending, the last among the higher-polling group to report. Other campaigns such as Mauricio Lizcano's had not updated the expenditure section. The reporting lag in Cuentas Claras illustrates one of the system's limitations: real-time reporting is voluntary and many campaigns report late.

Infobae · Ingresos y gastos de campaña, solo ocho aspirantes reportaron ↗
May 20, 2026 CO confirmed

Abelardo de la Espriella reports COP 12.458 billion in campaign spend

Abelardo de la Espriella (second in polls at 20.4%) recorded campaign spending of COP 12.458 billion. De la Espriella, alongside Paloma Valencia and Iván Cepeda, has bet on differentiated social media strategies to boost name recognition and attract undecided voters, in a contest where digital investment became central.

Cambio · Reposición de votos y gastos de campaña ↗
May 11, 2026 CO confirmed

Iván Cepeda reports the highest campaign spend: COP 14.794 billion, COP 9.853 billion on advertising

According to reports on the National Electoral Council's Cuentas Claras platform, by 11 May 2026 Iván Cepeda (Pacto Histórico, polling leader at 37.2%) recorded expenditures of COP 14.794 billion, of which the main destination was electoral advertising at COP 9.853 billion. Electoral advertising includes, without mandatory breakdown, social media ad spend. Cepeda holds position 1 on the ballot.

Infobae · Ingresos y gastos de campaña, solo ocho aspirantes reportaron ↗
March 8, 2026 CO reported

Inter-party primaries: over COP 14 billion spent, Miguel Uribe Londoño leads digital ad spend

In the 8 March 2026 inter-party primaries, pre-candidates collectively spent over COP 14 billion. According to the Misión de Observación Electoral report, Miguel Uribe Londoño led digital ad investment with over COP 1.043 billion. The primaries marked the start of a contest where social media displaced mass rallies, partly due to security risks in the territories and the logistical difficulty of touring the country.

Cambio · Candidatos que más gastan en pauta digital ↗

Methodology

Type
event-log
Construction
DC editorial construction
Cadence
weekly

Sources consulted

  1. Cuentas Claras · Consejo Nacional Electoral de Colombia ↗ official

    Official CNE platform where Colombian campaigns report income and spending. Primary source of declared spending. Limitation: voluntary real-time reporting with lags; not all campaigns report on time.

  2. Misión de Observación Electoral (MOE) · Colombia ↗ civil-society

    Independent electoral-observation organization. Publishes reports on digital ad investment and campaign-financing analysis. Key reference for social-media spending not captured by CNE rules.

  3. Transparencia por Colombia ↗ civil-society

    Colombian chapter of Transparency International. Analyzes political financing and the regulatory gray zone of digital advertising.

  4. Meta Ad Library · Transparency Center ↗ official

    Meta's ad library. For ads on social issues, elections or politics, it archives spending, reach and funding entity for 7 years. Requires the advertiser to be authorized. Imperfect coverage of unidentified advertisers ('bodegas').

  5. Google · Political Advertising Transparency Report ↗ official

    Google's political-ads transparency report. Includes only ads from verified advertisers for the relevant region. Coverage limited by prior verification.