What a Backward World It Will Be in 2026
Rather than pursuing online predators or the platforms that tolerate them, the new Trump regime is going after those calling them out.
Maldita.es* just published valuable journalistic research that exposes how TikTok has become a paradise for sexual predators and consumers of pedophilic content. Its algorithm highly recommends videos of minors, real or AI-generated, and steers users to increasingly sexualized profiles and content. Journalists identified accounts with more than 1 million followers, thousands of problematic videos, explicit comments directed toward minors and links that lead to external Telegram groups where child pornography is traded. Despite knowing about these patterns and having guidelines that prohibit this material, the platform doesn’t act forcefully enough and allows these risky groups to continue growing in plain sight, visible to any user.
A standing ovation to Maldita for shedding light on what’s happening on TikTok, the opaque second home to which millions of teenagers have moved without their parents having a clear idea of how many undesirable characters coexist with their kids. Investigating these networks could prove to be more laborious than a corruption case. There aren’t any reports from the Unidad Central Operativa** about it or any sources to have coffee with. To search for all the material, you have to navigate the viewing constraints imposed by the algorithm. You need daring and creativity when it comes to designing a working method that’s specific to the social media’s dynamic. This is something that organizations like Maldita have learned to do all around the world, dedicating themselves to verifying information and practicing journalism with disinformation that invades and overwhelms us.
In the backward world that we are settling into, fact-checking organizations are now the new enemies, a category of crooks that the Trump administration already has in its sights. Reuters recently uncovered the fact that consular officials were given orders to reject any work visa applications from people who have worked in fact-checking, content moderation or the fight against disinformation. These officials are practicing censorship, jeopardizing their hackneyed and distorted concept of freedom of expression. The reversal of responsibilities is dystopian: Rather than pursuing online predators or the platforms that tolerate them, the new Trump regime is going after those calling them out.
Together, the 170 organizations and media outlets that make up the International Fact-Checking Network have raised a red flag. In a joint statement, they remind us of something fundamental: “Fact-checking is journalism. It is the straightforward work of comparing public claims against the best available evidence and publishing the results for all to see. This work strengthens public debate — it does not censor it.” And to the IFCN, “[p]olicies that treat the pursuit of accuracy as a disqualifying activity send a chilling message to journalists and others worldwide.”
It's not only fact-checkers that are a public threat in Donald Trump’s eyes. You could be too. Look back at what you posted on social media in the last five years, because that will be the new documentation you will have to send to authorities if you want to travel to the U.S. — that is, if a court ruling doesn’t halt the proposal from Customs and Border Protection. Your social media will determine if you are a subversive element because you criticized Trump or Elon Musk, or because you seemed too concerned about the impact of disinformation. Only God knows what the backward world of 2026 will bring.
*Translator's note: Maldita.es is a nonprofit foundation based in Spain, founded in 2018, that builds public trust by fighting disinformation and promoting transparency through journalism, education, technology, research and policy action.
**Translator's note: UCO (Unidad Central Operativa, or the Central Operative Unit) is a specialized division of the Civil Guard of Spain responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the most serious forms of crime and organized crime.
Maldita.es* just published valuable journalistic research that exposes how TikTok has become a paradise for sexual predators and consumers of pedophilic content. Its algorithm highly recommends videos of minors, real or AI-generated, and steers users to increasingly sexualized profiles and content. Journalists identified accounts with more than 1 million followers, thousands of problematic videos, explicit comments directed toward minors and links that lead to external Telegram groups where child pornography is traded. Despite knowing about these patterns and having guidelines that prohibit this material, the platform doesn’t act forcefully enough and allows these risky groups to continue growing in plain sight, visible to any user.
A standing ovation to Maldita for shedding light on what’s happening on TikTok, the opaque second home to which millions of teenagers have moved without their parents having a clear idea of how many undesirable characters coexist with their kids. Investigating these networks could prove to be more laborious than a corruption case. There aren’t any reports from the Unidad Central Operativa** about it or any sources to have coffee with. To search for all the material, you have to navigate the viewing constraints imposed by the algorithm. You need daring and creativity when it comes to designing a working method that’s specific to the social media’s dynamic. This is something that organizations like Maldita have learned to do all around the world, dedicating themselves to verifying information and practicing journalism with disinformation that invades and overwhelms us.
In the backward world that we are settling into, fact-checking organizations are now the new enemies, a category of crooks that the Trump administration already has in its sights. Reuters recently uncovered the fact that consular officials were given orders to reject any work visa applications from people who have worked in fact-checking, content moderation or the fight against disinformation. These officials are practicing censorship, jeopardizing their hackneyed and distorted concept of freedom of expression. The reversal of responsibilities is dystopian: Rather than pursuing online predators or the platforms that tolerate them, the new Trump regime is going after those calling them out.
Together, the 170 organizations and media outlets that make up the International Fact-Checking Network have raised a red flag. In a joint statement, they remind us of something fundamental: “Fact-checking is journalism. It is the straightforward work of comparing public claims against the best available evidence and publishing the results for all to see. This work strengthens public debate — it does not censor it.” And to the IFCN, “[p]olicies that treat the pursuit of accuracy as a disqualifying activity send a chilling message to journalists and others worldwide.”
It's not only fact-checkers that are a public threat in Donald Trump’s eyes. You could be too. Look back at what you posted on social media in the last five years, because that will be the new documentation you will have to send to authorities if you want to travel to the U.S. — that is, if a court ruling doesn’t halt the proposal from Customs and Border Protection. Your social media will determine if you are a subversive element because you criticized Trump or Elon Musk, or because you seemed too concerned about the impact of disinformation. Only God knows what the backward world of 2026 will bring.
*Translator's note: Maldita.es is a nonprofit foundation based in Spain, founded in 2018, that builds public trust by fighting disinformation and promoting transparency through journalism, education, technology, research and policy action.
**Translator's note: UCO (Unidad Central Operativa, or the Central Operative Unit) is a specialized division of the Civil Guard of Spain responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the most serious forms of crime and organized crime.
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