The Brazilian political and social scenario is fertile ground for the spread of false information about socio-environmental issues. Linked to this, the gradual discrediting of traditional media by the population is driven by a wave of systematically produced misinformation.
This rupture threatens, among other things, the dialogue necessary to overcome the challenges of the climate emergency. Our objective is to map and analyze the Brazilian media ecosystem in the digital environment, seeking to interpret the main forms of attack on socio-environmental issues. ​
It is possible to notice in the digital ecosystem an overvaluation of economic productivity, linked to agribusiness by a developmental discourse, as a central solution to Brazil's socio-environmental problems. Meanwhile, the extent of the fires, the forest devastation, the destruction of biomes, the violence against indigenous peoples and the impact of mining on Indigenous Lands are ignored. On networks, it is common to use automated accounts and other computational propaganda strategies to boost the visibility of anti-environmentalist agendas. Thus, they gain prominence conspiratorial narratives that argue that climate change and the socio-environmental crisis are strategies of political manipulation that put the country's sovereignty over its natural resources at risk.
Through the projects developed in this line, we seek to provide evidence and expand knowledge about the instrumentalization of platforms and media vehicles against socio-environmental issues. Furthermore, we also investigated the role of civil society in defense of the socio-environmental agenda, seeking to develop partnerships to inform the debate on public policies based on scientific studies.
Studies in Progress
Media ecology in the Legal Amazon: typology of regional news portals
This project examines socio-environmental coverage by local media in the nine states of the Legal Amazon, exploring its relationship with the region and affiliation with media networks; its socio-environmental coverage; its adherence to practices that give credibility to journalism; and its position in the regional political economy.
Socio-environmental Infodemic: analysis of the debate in the digital media ecosystem in Brazil
With the aim of mapping the socio-environmental discussion, involving issues such as land use, rights of indigenous peoples and support for climate policies, we periodically analyze traditional press outlets, junk news portals, local outlets, social media platforms and messaging applications.
Multiplatform socio-environmental disinformation campaigns: orchestration between websites, chat apps and social media
Environmental misinformation is one of the central issues in communication strategies that seek to take advantage of the possibilities of digital platforms to gain adherence and social relevance. In this project, we researched the uses and impacts of this type of misinformation in the online debate.