Malditas Accounts: Where our income comes from and how we spend it

At Maldita.es, we believe transparency is essential. As a member of our community, you have the right to know where our money comes from and how we spend it — because Maldita.es belongs to you too. We know this matters if you are to continue trusting us, so we want to explain everything clearly.

Today, we are a non-profit foundation (you can read our foundation bylaws here), thanks to the supporters who backed our 2019 crowdfunding campaign. At the same time, we continue to operate as an association (you can read the association bylaws here). We maintain both entities because the association was already running long-term projects that cannot be closed abruptly. Gradually, we are transferring staff and projects to the foundation, with the goal of eventually closing the association.

At the end of 2021, following the success of our WhatsApp chatbot, we created a limited company fully owned by the foundation to provide this tool to other media outlets and organizations. The company is called Botalite SL. It has developed chatbot systems for more than 20 organizations worldwide. It has not distributed dividends, so this will not appear in our accounts. You can read our Investment Code here.

Every year, we publish the association’s financial balance and the foundation’s audited accounts.

Below, we explain where our income comes from and how we used it in 2025. 

Malditas income 2025

Our income is diversified. For clarity, we have grouped it into the following categories:

MALDIT@S (Community Supporters)

This includes contributions from ambassadors and community members who financially support Maldita.es. This is our most important source of income, the one that truly sustains the project. You can learn more at comunidad.maldita.es. You can also contribute with your “superpowers” (volunteering your expertise here).

Media Collaborations

We collaborate with different media outlets to expand the reach of our journalism:

• Julia en la Onda (Onda Cero). We participate with a segment on Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. on the weekend program.

• Radio Castilla-La Mancha: We have a segment in the Castilla-La Mancha news program at 8 a.m.

• Caiga quien caiga (Cuatro). Factous, our social media brand for young audiences, participated during January and February 2025 with a segment (Course on ethics against disinformation) on the TV program Caiga quien Caiga.

• Malas Lenguas (RTVE La 2). For one month in 2025, we participated in the La 2 program with the Maldita Hemeroteca segment.

PHILANTHROPY AND GRANTS: As a non-profit organization dedicated to journalistic innovation and to building tools that serve citizens, each year we seek funding from philanthropic entities and organizations that believe in the fight against disinformation to support our work. This year, we have received support from:

• Maldito Clima: With the support of the European Climate Foundation, we continue to maintain Maldita.es’ climate vertical, placing climate change and its impact on everyday life at the center of public debate while fighting climate disinformation. We will also conduct longer-term investigations into climate disinformation, its actors and networks.
• EnRédate JyD: With the support of Fundación Jóvenes y Desarrollo (JyD), Maldita.es participated in a monitoring lab focused on racist and xenophobic hate speech narratives linked to youth, tracking disinformation content related to migration on major social media platforms used by young people. Additionally, Maldita.es held a webinar for teachers, educators, and university students to provide tools to detect disinformation and hoaxes.
• Maldita.es’s Content Agency: Maldita.es was selected by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to receive a grant from the Global Fact Check Fund, advancing our strategy to distribute content across other channels. This project aimed to position the organization as a reliable source of verified information for other platforms and media in the Spanish-speaking world. Through this grant, Maldita.es facilitated access to verified content for other media outlets, mainly local and regional.
• SoJo Europe: Maldita.es was selected, together with nine other European newsrooms, to join the first SoJo Europe programme, an initiative designed to promote solutions journalism across the continent. With this support, we published the investigation “Before, During and After: The Complex Puzzle That Must Be Solved to Protect Against Floods.”
• FIMI-ISAC Elections: The FIMI-ISAC project (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference - Information Sharing and Analysis Center) is an international initiative led by European organizations and funded by Google.org, aimed at protecting democratic integrity during electoral processes from disinformation and foreign interference threats. Active between January 2025 and March 2026, the project creates response teams (FRTs), develops data analysis tools (DST), designs in-person and online training, and produces operational manuals to build a FIMI defense community capable of monitoring, reporting, and countering disinformation campaigns in real time.
• AC/DC – Argument Checking vs Disinformation Content during Climate Emergencies and Crises: This project, led by Fundación Maldita.es in collaboration with the University of Navarra, proposes an innovative evolution of traditional fact-checking by introducing the “argument-checking” methodology. Instead of verifying isolated facts, this technique analyzes the structure, logic and credibility of arguments that sustain disinformation narratives, especially in climate crisis contexts. Maldita.es will design a practical methodology and prototypes to be tested and evaluated.
• European Youth Forum: Factous, our youth-focused project, has been selected to cover the European Youth Forum 2025, to be held on 13–14 June in Strasbourg. This biennial event brings together thousands of young people from across Europe to debate, interact with Members of the European Parliament and learn about EU initiatives. Factous will develop a digital communication strategy aimed at bringing the EU closer to young people aged 18 to 30 through educational social media content.
• Cross-border disinformation campaigns between Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Latin America: With the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the project expanded its partner network to include Fake News Tragaç and Raskrikavanje.rs from Serbia, and Raskrinkavanje.ba from Bosnia. Maldita.es, together with ten fact-checking organizations from five European countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Serbia and Bosnia) and four Latin American countries (Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico), will study and analyze cross-border disinformation campaigns circulating through private messaging apps.
• Short and Effective Media Literacy Service (SEMS Europe): With the support of Porticus, Maldita.es, together with deCheckers, Correctiv and The Guardian Foundation, developed and deployed five media literacy courses delivered through WhatsApp chatbots in three countries, including focus groups and evaluation.
• NARRADisinfo: Narrative and AI Responses for Resilience Against Disinformation: Maldita.es was awarded one of the grants provided by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to develop AI-driven solutions. We worked on innovations in our narrative monitoring panel to improve identification using generative AI, strengthening our fact-checkers’ ability to tackle disinformation narratives. The project lasted six months and concluded in March 2025.
• AI-Assistant for Fact-Checkers: Fundación Maldita.es has been selected by the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, an international initiative supported by the Google News Initiative, to develop an artificial intelligence assistant aimed at increasing the efficiency and accuracy of daily verification processes. The foundation was chosen alongside 35 organizations worldwide from more than 700 applications across 22 countries. The tool uses technologies that allow rapid exploration of large volumes of content, detection of disinformation patterns, connection of new claims with previous debunks, and suggestions of relevant experts and optimal response formats.
• Improving the use of fact-checks by AI systems through advanced structured data: international collaboration funded by Google News Initiative and led by Full Fact to improve the ClaimReview schema, used by fact-checkers around the globe. The project developed new categories to describe false claims and their potential harm in readable formats by machines, designed to improve how AI tools use fact-checked content.
• IBERIFIER - Sustainability for Cross-cutting Responses to Disinformation in the Iberian Peninsula: Project funded by Porticus to investigate and explore the sustainability of the IBERIFIER observatory through its registry as an independent legal entity. Through participatory needs analysis, definition of legal status, governance design, and legal incorporation, the project sought to consolidate IBERIFIER as a stable reference actor within the Iberian ecosystem for combating disinformation.
• JournalismFund Europe - Pop Fascism: Transnational journalistic investigation with Facta (Italy) that analyzes the normalization and spread of fascist narratives on social media through seemingly playful formats such as memes, viral videos, symbols, emojis, and popular cultural references. It examined how Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler reappear on platforms like TikTok through coded language, humor, music, and sports-related references in order to evade moderation and spread disinformation.

• Exposing Scams - Corporate and citizen response to digital scams: project funded by CIF of Maldita.es and Faktograf to develop evidence-based typologies to detect, classify and prevent digital fraud.

• RESET: Resilience and Evidence for safer and more transparent information ecosystems: A project aimed at strengthening democratic resilience against disinformation through the analysis of systemic risks, the generation of evidence, and support for the development of data-driven public policies. Maldita.es contributes its expertise in disinformation analysis, applied research, and engagement with public decision-makers, helping to develop recommendations and advocacy materials.

• Tech & Democracy 2025 - Strengthening Digital Democracy in Europe: A program funded by Civitates to support the implementation of EU technology regulations. Maldita.es strengthens institutional engagement in the application of the DSA, produces monitoring reports on compliance by VLOPs/VLOSEs during elections and emergencies, and develops strategic communication campaigns on transparency and digital accountability.

• ClientEarth Tick: Monetized Accounts and Climate Disinformation during the 2024 Valencia Floods: Research funded by ClientEarth to identify whether monetized accounts participating in advertising revenue-sharing programs were involved in spreading climate disinformation during the 2024 Valencia floods, and to what extent.

TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS: Our services are contracted by several technology companies with the aim of reducing the impact of disinformation on their platforms.

• Meta: Since 2019, Maldita.es has been part of Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program. Meta pays us to fact-check content that is going viral on its platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Threads) in order to combat disinformation. We independently decide what to fact-check and how to fact-check it, based on our methodology. Meta has no editorial control over this process.
• WhatsApp: Since launching our automated WhatsApp chatbot, the company has paid us for the service we provide to its users, responding to queries about content that may contain disinformation. WhatsApp does not have access to the messages users send us.
• Google Showcase: We provide Google Showcase with the three most important news stories of the day, every day of the week.

PUBLIC TENDERS AND GRANTS: Public funding or funding from publicly financed entities received by Fundación Maldita.es is always awarded through competitive calls and never allows any influence over our editorial content.

• European Union: We currently run several projects partially funded by programmes and directorates of the European Commission.
• Iberifier+: In May 2025, the second phase of the Iberian digital media observatory Iberifier began, starting with a meeting of its members in Pamplona (Navarra). Fundación Maldita.es will continue to be part of the project consortium, which has already established itself as the largest Iberian digital media observatory since its creation in 2021. So far, Iberifier has focused on the research, analysis, and debunking of hoaxes, as well as on promoting best practices in critical information consumption among citizens. In its second phase, planned until 2026, it will extend these activities to all Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, while coordinating its work with the rest of the observatories promoted by the European Commission across the 27 EU countries, which together form the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). 
• EU Hybnet: A five-year project led by two Finnish institutions — Laurea University of Applied Sciences and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats — bringing together 23 organisations from 16 countries to conduct comprehensive research aimed at detecting, preparing for and countering potential hybrid threats affecting EU countries.
• AI4TRUST: Fundación Maldita.es is one of 17 organisations participating in the European project AI4TRUST (AI-based Technologies for Trustworthy Solutions Against Disinformation), led by Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Italy. Its main goal is to build a technological platform capable of detecting potential disinformation in real time by combining technology and human expertise. The project runs for three years.
• ATHENA: Maldita.es is one of 14 organisations and institutes contributing to the detection and analysis of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) and its impact on democracy. The project runs for three years.
• MigraVoice: Migrant Voices Matter in the European Media: Coordinated by Maldita.es together with five leading European media organisations producing content in seven languages, the project seeks to amplify migrant voices and perspectives within Europe. It will establish a cross-border expert community of migrant background professionals — the MigraVoice Superpower Community — serving as a platform to connect their expertise with European media content. A temporary newsroom of 15 journalists with migrant backgrounds will also produce content across multiple formats and platforms. In parallel, European journalists will strengthen their inclusive journalism skills to promote more representative media narratives.
• QYourself: Question What You Receive. Media Literacy to Combat Disinformation: A project designed to raise awareness among European citizens about the need to verify information before sharing it. It provides teachers and educators from diverse backgrounds with knowledge, tools and teaching materials to bring media and information literacy into classrooms. Fundación Maldita.es contributes its expertise in media literacy, supporting tool development and coordinating communication and dissemination activities. The project is funded by Erasmus+ and led by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
• FactCRICIS: Maldita.es was part of the FactCRICIS consortium, led by the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). The project aims to strengthen European fact-checking organisations’ capacity to respond to crisis situations, particularly by identifying and debunking climate-related disinformation campaigns and fostering faster, more coordinated responses across Europe.
• MALAGRI: Maldita Agricultura is a multiplatform, evidence-based information campaign targeting young urban audiences (under 30) in Spain to promote better understanding of national and European agriculture. With EU support, Maldita.es produces evidence-based journalism to counter disinformation and misconceptions about the agricultural sector.
• MALAGRI 2.0: the second edition of the MALAGRI project, a co-funded initiative by the European Union that aims to increase knowledge and reduce disinformation among urban populations—especially those under 30—about agriculture, food production, and rural environments, with a specific focus on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
• LEVEL UP: Fundación Maldita.es coordinates the EU-funded Level Up project, which aims to empower older citizens (60+) in Europe — particularly in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Spain — to develop critical media skills and resilience against misinformation and disinformation. The project includes workshops, video games and a toolkit designed to help older adults avoid falling for disinformation.
• ISPA COHESION: Maldita.es, together with El Orden Mundial and elDiario.es, participates in a national campaign to redefine public understanding of EU cohesion policy. Funded by the European Commission, the project includes newsletters, weekly briefings and live-streamed events. Maldita.es contributes its articles to support the fight against disinformation about EU cohesion policy.
• HATEDEMICS: Maldita.es joins 11 other organisations from Italy, Spain, Malta and Estonia in this EU co-funded project aimed at strengthening preventive and reactive measures against online hate speech and disinformation. It seeks to empower NGOs, fact-checkers, public authorities and young people to effectively prevent and counter polarisation and racist, xenophobic and intolerant narratives. The project will develop and test the HATEDEMICS platform, an AI-based tool to improve user responses to hate speech and disinformation, complemented by interactive training and educational pathways.
• Infoodmation: Coordinated by EUFIC, this project aims to improve understanding of how traditional media, social media and marketing influence food consumption habits in terms of health and sustainability. Maldita.es will coordinate the evaluation of the spread and effects of food-related disinformation and design response recommendations. The three-year project begins in January 2025 and is funded by the European Union.
• More Correct Information, Less Discrimination (MIILD): Fundación Maldita.es participates in this EU co-funded project aimed at improving media coverage of migrants, refugees and racialised communities to reduce disinformation and hate speech. Led by the Italian organisation Lunaria, MIILD will train journalists, journalism students and civil society activists in Italy, Malta, Greece and Spain to identify, expose and counter disinformation and discriminatory narratives related to migration and racism through accurate, fact-based reporting.
• ENDGAME: Escaping New Disinformation through Gamified Cross-border Media Literacy Education: Led by the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), this European project seeks to help young people develop critical thinking and responsible digital citizenship through educational escape rooms simulating real-life information consumption scenarios. Young people from Finland, Serbia and Spain will learn to recognise online disinformation. The project runs for 24 months, from March 2025 to February 2027.
• Ask Europe: A European project led by Agence France-Presse (AFP) aimed at facilitating EU citizens’ access to reliable information about European institutions and Member States. Supported by the European Union, it runs from March 2025 to February 2027 through a digital platform developed by a consortium of 15 European organisations. Maldita.es will produce explanatory content in multiple formats and coordinate the social media strategy.
• Europe Aid Georgia – SAFIMI: “Georgian Society Against Disinformation, Foreign Information Manipulation and Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour” (SAFIMI) is an international project co-funded by the European Union under the NDICI – Global Europe programme. It aims to strengthen resilience against disinformation in Georgia between 2025 and 2027 through research, training, multilingual journalism and support for local actors. Fundación Maldita.es will coordinate and prepare media literacy educational materials and contribute to technological development improvements for participating Georgian organisations.

OTHER

• Industrial PhD: Fundación Maldita.es currently hosts a computer engineer who is carrying out her research as part of an Industrial PhD programme with the University of Granada. To support this, the foundation receives a public grant that covers part of the PhD candidate’s salary, allowing her to dedicate time to her research in close collaboration with social and business stakeholders.

PROJECTS: At Maldita.es, we work with companies and foundations to produce informative content aimed at countering disinformation across different fields. In all these agreements, every piece of content produced strictly follows our own editorial criteria and methodology.

• Factchequeado: An initiative created by Fundación Maldita.es and the Argentine outlet Chequeado to build a community of Hispanics and Latinos to counter Spanish-language disinformation in the United States. Both organisations continue to collaborate on this project.
• Eroski Consumer: Maldita.es collaborates with Eroski Consumer, an editorial project of Fundación EROSKI, with the shared goal of disseminating reliable and useful information on health, nutrition and food safety. Over a six-month period, Maldita.es produces one monthly article and video on these topics, which Eroski Consumer publishes on its website. Both organisations also share the content on their Instagram, X and Facebook accounts. All content produced for this project strictly follows Maldita.es’ editorial criteria and methodology.

RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY: We believe that fighting disinformation requires action on all possible fronts. For this reason, Maldita.es signs agreements with consultancies and non-profit organisations interested in our expertise and content.

• MOEVE Consultancy: Maldita.es conducts an independent audit consultancy to analyse the potential risk of greenwashing in the company’s communications. To do so, we have designed our own independent methodology to rigorously assess the transparency and accuracy of the messages issued. In addition, we produce periodic reports analysing disinformation narratives related to climate and energy circulating in Spain, thereby helping to strengthen information integrity in these areas.
• Information Diets – University of Barcelona: The CCSINOFYOUTH project aims to understand how young people aged 16 to 25 in Spain consume political information on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and how this influences their knowledge, trust and political participation. Maldita.es will collaborate on designing disinformation-related modules for the survey, developing experimental stimuli and identifying algorithmic biases, contributing its technological and educational expertise.