Disinformation with a strategy of power and virtual mobilization

• Grant number: 24/04203-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications
• Principal Investigator: Carla Montuori Fernandes
• Grantee: Carla Montuori Fernandes
• Host Institution: Vice-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade Paulista (UNIP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Lara Karoline Souza de Aquino ; Luiz Ademir de Oliveira ; Marina Alvarenga Botelho ; Vinícius Borges Gomes

Abstract

The project aims to analyze the use of disinformation as a strategy for gaining and maintaining power. Power can be broadly defined as the ability to influence or control the actions and thoughts of individuals or groups. According to Arendt (1985), power is related to numbers and the opinion of the majority, whereas violence, in contrast, depends solely on the possession and use of instruments. For Arendt (1985), the extreme form of power is summarized as all against one, and the extreme form of violence is one against all. In this context, disinformation, articulated as a strategic tool for actors seeking to consolidate or expand their power, can serve to discredit opponents, foster distrust in institutions, incite social divisions, and even create alternative realities that favor their objectives.The study takes a conjunctural look at the impact of digital communication on Brazilian politics in recent history and acknowledges the resurgence of the far-right in recent years, especially under the leadership of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The research begins with the attacks on public property in Brasília on January 8, 2023, an event that received widespread media coverage and is part of a series of incidents that revealed an upheaval in the political system and a challenge to the country's institutional functioning. Supported by fake news alleging fraud in electronic voting machines, coup attempts were mobilized by Bolsonaro's networks, escalating in radicalization after Bolsonaro's defeat in the elections on October 30, 2022. The research aims to map the enunciative patterns activated by bolsonarismo through the dissemination of false content that discredits democratic institutions, grounded in hate speech and attacks on the left and communism, personified in the figure of the Workers' Party (PT) and President Lula. The theoretical framework seeks to contribute to the reflection on disinformation and its operational logic, in the mobilization and dissemination of narratives that exalt bolsonarismo, targeting democratic institutions and the new government, through the study of digital platforms, especially Facebook and X/Twitter, during the first two years of Lula's presidential term, from January 8 to December 31, 2024. The qualitative analysis will be conducted through Categorical Content Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001), aiming to understand the discursive and ideological practices of Bolsonaro's networks. (AU)