How platforms produce disinformation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22409/v95zqw38Abstract
Platforms participate in the production, circulation, consumption, and refutation of fake news, whether through the intervention of their interfaces and algorithms; by influencing the news selection of fact-checking agencies; or by developing technologies adopted in automated verification systems (Lemos; Oliveira, 2021). We aim to demonstrate the relationship between interfaces and algorithms of platforms and the production, consumption, and refutation of false content related to the "kit gay," the "Vaza Jato" scandal, and COVID-19. It combines field diaries from researchers, including incursions into public political groups on Telegram and WhatsApp between 2018 and 2022; is based on an analysis of the WhatsApp interface; and involves the collection and analysis of tweets about the "gay kit." The findings indicate that the platforms' interfaces: a) produce specific types of misinformation; b) determine strategies for the widespread circulation of false content; and c) define conditions for the refutation of false content. Thus, in the current context of platformization, datafication, and algorithmic performativity, understanding disinformation is not possible without analyzing the materiality of the platforms.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Frederico Oliveira, André Lemos
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