Montage showing the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, with the press. Made by ProBox and published with their permission.

This article was written by Proboxmedia partner Latin American Global Voices.

Nayib Bukele’s government in El Salvador has captured international attention for its story of economic stability and achieving security, projecting itself in many cases as a model for transformation in the region. However, this image of success contrasts with increasingly alarming complaints about the curtailment of fundamental freedoms, particularly press freedom and government transparency.

The environment for independent Salvadoran journalists has become increasingly hostile, with a worrying increase in attacks, stigmatization and judicial persecution.

Recent reports from the Inter-American Press Association (MARE) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals the significant failures of freedoms of information and access to public information since 2022, with the establishment of the state of emergency in El Salvador.

IAPA pointed out that 2023 was the most critical year for the press in El Salvador since the end of the civil war, with a 66% increase in attacks against journalists.

In parallel, the US State Department, in its Fiscal Transparency Report 2024highlighted the lack of public audits and growing doubts about the country’s financial management, particularly regarding unaudited accounts and the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.

Despite progress in publishing some financial data, the report warns that oversight institutions lack independence and have not met international auditing standards. These problems, in addition to weakening confidence in public management, raise serious questions about the government’s true commitment to accountability.

Bukele’s Narratives

An investigation by ProBox offers a deeper insight into how the Bukele government’s official narrative is being spread and amplified in the digital environment, while the crackdown on critical media continues to increase.

ProBox used social listening tools to monitor online conversation on topics related to press freedom, the persecution of journalists, and government transparency in El Salvador.

The study found that between September 2 and October 2, there were 191 mentions of terms such as “government persecution,” “access to public information,” and “harassment of journalists.”

Most of these mentions were concentrated on X (formerly Twitter) with 57.07 percent of the total, followed by Facebook with 37.17 percent and fewer on Instagram. The day with the most activity was September 13, when 22 mentions were recorded on these topics.

The most cited keywords in the posts included “press freedom” (28 mentions) and “impairment of freedom” (12 mentions), reflecting the concern of journalists and users about increasing government control of the media.

The complaints point to a hostile environment for journalistic work, where judicial harassment and social media harassment go hand in hand, driven by disparaging rhetoric from government officials. In this regard, it is possible to see posts by users protesting for freedom of expression in El Salvador and categorizing the Bukele government as a dictatorship on X.

Likewise, mass media such as At Prensa Gráfica, CNN in Español, At Gacetaand journalist Roberto Cavada have published about IAPA rEPORTS and CPJ, denouncing restrictions on access to information, particularly on sensitive topics such as crime and prison conditions. These publications also pointed to the existence of a “digital army” of trolls and bots, used to discredit critics and amplify official propaganda.

One aspect that attracted attention were complaints like that of FIERYan organization that, on its Facebook account, warned of how the government had begun blocking the profiles of government critics.

Critical organizations and media have reported that the government of El Salvador has created more than 5,000 bot accounts on platforms such as X, Instagram and Facebook, used to spread pro-Bukele propaganda and attack opposition voices. These accounts were blocked by the platforms following allegations of coordinated manipulation of the public conversation.

Screenshot of a video from FIERY Facebook account

Pro-Bukelism is amplified on social media.

The conversation was also analyzed around keywords and phrases such as “Bukele’s economic plan”, “fully funded budget”, “innovation and security” and “bitcoin legal currency in El Salvador” and the participation of network users who actively promote pro-Bukele content such as @soyjoseyoutuber and @tamarindosv.

This search yielded 223 mentions between September 8 and October 7, highlighting activity from September 15 (Salvadoran Independence Day alongside the rest of the Central American nations), with 33 mentions recorded.

This conversation was primarily focused on Facebook with 56.05 percent of recorded mentions (125), followed by X with 43.05 percent of mentions (96), then Instagram with 0.45 percent of mentions ( 1) and by TikTok with 0.45 percent of mentions ( 1).

The government’s official narrative gained a strong presence on social media through pro-Bukele figures and accounts (such as @soyjoseyoutuber and @tamarindosv) as well as by broadcasting discourse on economic stability and success in security.

For example, Bukele’s September 15 announcement about presenting a 2025 budget fully financed without the need for external debt was amplified by these users and replicated on platforms such as Facebook, X and TikTok.

One of the most viral examples was a TikTok video uploaded by @bukelord account, where the moment of Nayib Bukele’s speech mentioning the budget proposal was published which has accumulated over 1.1 million views, 126,400 likes, 6,509 comments, 5,638 saves and 8,585 shares.

Screenshot of a video from Bukelord account on TikTok.

This digital activity reinforces the image of success that the government tries to project, but at the same time hides persistent problems in human rights and transparency issues.

The Bukele government’s official discourse was to promote his management as an economic success story. However, this story is increasingly criticized by the media and human rights organizations, who see these achievements as a distraction from the underlying issues of freedom of expression and transparency.

Although the government has presented initiatives such as Code of Ethics and Integrity in the General Directorate of Customsfor some sectors these measures seem insufficient or limited in their implementation.

Repression and censorship of journalists continues to be a constant threat that affects the ability of civil society to hold its leaders accountable.