Characteristics of Misinformation Discourses Related to Scientific Knowledge Created by Bolsonaro Networks on Twitter

Abstract

As much as we know that discourses attacking the credibility of science and the manufacture of fake news are not a recent phenomenon, they have been gaining greater visibility with the popularization of social media. Due to the algorithms that govern the content shown to the user, ideological bubbles are created, in which misinformation finds fertile ground to propagate. Thinking about the Brazilian context, we conducted an ethnographic study for the internet and analyzed the characteristics of misinformation discourses related to scientific knowledge on the social network Twitter, among users who take part in support networks for former President Jair Bolsonaro. By the categorization of the reported content, we discuss not only the discursive characteristics present in the analyzed tweets, but also how the processes of teaching-learning in science and the lack of certain knowledge involving the way scientific knowledge is built can influence the spread of misinformation. We present results that relate personal and immediate experience, hidden causal links, and identity belonging as characteristics that affect the spread of misinformation online. We compare these characteristics with gaps in science teaching-learning processes. We conclude by highlighting the importance of both understanding how the content filter of social networks works and promoting an education that develops ways of thinking seeking generalizations of content as ways to fight misinformation.

Keywords

• misinformation
• bolsonarism
• social media