He’s a bit of a trickster, a bit of a troll. And the person behind a Spanish-language news and humor Facebook page has gotten under the skin of some local restaurateurs.
The owners of Los Sanchez Mexican Restaurant are offering a $2,000 reward to unmask whoever runs MinnesotaNoticias ErnestoPaletas — who they say spread false information about an immigration raid targeting their Twin Cities chain.
The original post also said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would be detaining people at the Mall of America, Mercado Central and other locations.
It’s part of a wave of misinformation and disinformation on Spanish-language social media accounts, many spread by well-meaning community members.
“In Spanish there’s a statement, ‘comparto por las dudas,’ meaning ‘I share just in case,’” said Laura Zommer, cofounder of Factchequeando, a nonprofit collaborative that tackles mis- and disinformation targeting U.S. Latinos.
Factchequeando saw a wave of misinformation during the COVID pandemic, she said, leading some people to avoid vaccines and other health precautions.
Local business owners say the current wave of misinformation is also having a negative effect — keeping employees at home and customers away.
Misinformation drives engagement
The ErnestoPaletas account has been active since 2022 and says it provides “news and humor.” The poster’s tongue-in-cheek name, “Ernest Popsicle” reflects that approach. The site’s content, all in Spanish, includes republished photos or videos focused on Minnesota news and news for Latinos.
The site’s feud with Los Sanchez kicked off in June when it posted that ICE agents would be present at local businesses and “checking” individuals. That followed on the heels of a chaotic federal sting at a Lake Street taqueria that left the community on edge.
The list of locations ICE would be at, according to the post, included Mexican bull-riding events, MOA, Mercado Central, a popular lake in Lakeville and Los Sanchez restaurants.
Days later other locations were added to the list including the Bloomington location of Las Cuatro Milpas, which was targeted in the June 3 federal sting.
The original post even included what to do should ICE enter your home and advised followers to remain calm, don’t talk and request to speak to a lawyer.
Comments were disabled on the original post but in other Facebook pages where the post was shared commenters bashed the information presented as false.
The post was shared hundreds of times before it was taken down.
For the owners of Los Sanchez, that wasn’t enough. They put up a post offering a reward on June 12.
“This page has been dedicated to mocking and defaming people across all social media,” the owners posted. “We have to stop it.”
In an interview in mid-June at the chain’s Nicollet Avenue location, a manager, who did not want to be named, said ICE had not been active at the chain’s three restaurants or its food truck.
And he said the chain has not lost business. However, the owners of the restaurant did notice social media users sharing the misleading post.
“Good publicity or bad, it’s good for us,” the manager said. “We just want to know who’s behind it, but nobody knows.”
In a statement, Mall of America officials said they were also not aware of any ICE activity at the mall.
Daniel Hernandez, owner of Colonial Market in Minneapolis, said he has also been getting calls from customers and other business owners worried about ICE raid rumors on social media.
“They call to ask if it’s true, the reality is it isn’t,” Hernandez said. “It’s a disgrace that this person [MinnesotaNoticias ErnestoPaletas] is doing this and confusing people. People don’t come to buy, they have to be smart and realize how to distinguish between what’s real and what isn’t.”
Attempts to reach out to the person behind the Ernesto Paletas account were unsuccessful. In the past, the poster has trolled other critics. In one instance the account posted a photo of a form to be filled out by those offended on social media.
In another, the account posted a photo of a SWAT vehicle in Richfield while alerting followers that ICE raids had begun nationwide. Commenters noted the photos used were from another local Facebook page and were unrelated to ICE calling the post “false” to which the account replied in Spanish “more false are your eyelashes.”
Ironically, the account has also called out other local content creators who they claim are “cultivating panic among the Hispanic community” with fake news about ICE operations in the metro.
Increased misinformation among U.S. Latinos
The ErnestoPaletas account is not an outlier in the Spanish media ecosystem. Misinformation has been an issue in non-English speaking communities in the U.S. for decades, Factchequeando’s Zommer said.
Latinos haven’t always had reliable news outlets that keep them informed. Plus there’s also a growing distrust of traditional media outlets that have failed to properly cover immigrant communities, she said.
Add to that an accessibility issue where paywalls become barriers to reliable information, and you end up with a stronger reliance on social media apps like Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram for news, according to her.
On those platforms, misinformation can spread unchecked, Zommer said.
Information shared whether it’s about the COVID-19 pandemic or immigration enforcement isn’t always vetted properly before being shared. Zommer said many people knowingly share posts they suspect contain false information under the impression it could still help others.
“The idea is trying to help others by sharing,” she said. During the pandemic “that was super dangerous.”
Factchequeando partners with community organizations, universities and newsrooms producing Spanish-language content, sharing its fact-checking and media literacy resources.
While most communities across the country have legacy news outlets for English speakers, local Spanish-language news can be hard to come by, according to Zommer. Even then the information is mostly direct translations from already existing materials in English.
Zommer said as Spanish-language media continues growing in the U.S. increasing media literacy will be key to avoiding the spread of misinformation and another issue she’s seeing come up a lot, scams.
The spread of misinformation isn’t always a community member trying to help others. According to Zommer, there are “bad actors and scammers out there purposefully targeting the Latino community.
These subjects draw in victims by their emotions. Zommer said if a scammer can get a victim to become overjoyed, upset or angry by a post, it could lead to further engagement.
“I’m not expecting the public, while they are on social media, to become investigative journalists or detectives, but if societies start to practice these skills, they become better and better,” she said.
As of Tuesday, July 8, no one had claimed the $2,000 reward posted by Los Sanchez.
What to do before sharing
Factchequeando has several online guides on how to spot misinformation, fact-check articles and a tip line to submit news for fact-checking.
Zommer also had the following three tips for social media users:
- Check your emotions: If something on social media is making you sad, mad, worried or optimistic and you feel an urge to share or engage, pause and take a moment to breathe.
Zommer said scammers and those pushing disinformation use emotional manipulation to get you to engage with their content and share it. It could be false promises or guarantees of getting you or your family members green cards or asking you to share rumors of ICE in your areas. Before you act, take a step back.
- Check images or videos: Scammers and disinformers at times republish visuals used elsewhere to convince you of the authenticity of their posts. Zommer said images can be checked using Google Lens or reverse image searches to seek if they’ve been used elsewhere.
- Be suspicious: Sometimes posts contain logos or wording attributed to authentic news outlets. At times people share screenshots of news articles to back up their claims.
Zommer said it’s important for social media users to take a moment and look closely at the material before sharing. Is the news outlet’s name misspelled? Is the logo the right color? And can you verify the information on the outlet’s own website? If not, all might be tipoffs of misinformation.
