Electoral disinformation in the middle of the campaign: nuances of post-truth and populism at the heart of Brazilian democracy

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand the operation of disinformation based on the post-truth attributes and populist rhetoric that are part of the narratives defined as false by the agency fact-checking Lupa, from January to May 2022, about the Brazilian electoral process. The methodology used is content analysis (Bardin, 2002), with a sample consisting of 22 registration units and the establishment of analytical categories. The results indicate a predisposition of false information to confront specific institutions and figures, parties or ideological spectrum, allowing us to conclude that the political adherence of fallacious narratives to one of the presidential candidates and their appeal to conspiracy theories have cast doubt on the fairness of the electoral process and democracy itself.