Research note: Bolsonaro’s firehose: How Covid-19 disinformation on WhatsApp was used to fight a government political crisis in Brazil

Soares, Felipe Bonow and Recuero, Raquel and Volcan, Taiane and Fagundes, Giane and Sodre, Giele (2021) Research note: Bolsonaro’s firehose: How Covid-19 disinformation on WhatsApp was used to fight a government political crisis in Brazil. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, 2 (1).

Type of Research:	Article
Creators:	Soares, Felipe Bonow and Recuero, Raquel and Volcan, Taiane and Fagundes, Giane and Sodre, Giele
Description:	Brazil has one of the highest rates of cases and deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the world. Two factors contributed to the high rates: the Brazilian government underestimated the pandemic and a large amount of disinformation was spread through social media. We found that disinformation about Covid-19 on WhatsApp was associated with political disinformation, mostly composed to support president Bolsonaro during the crisis he faced at the beginning of the pandemic. Our main finding implicates that disinformation on WhatsApp was connected to the far-right political discourse and framed Covid-19 as a political issue rather than a public health issue.
Your affiliations with UAL:	Colleges > London College of Communication
Date:	29 January 2021
Digital Object Identifier:	10.37016/mr-2020-54
Date Deposited:	24 Mar 2023 14:31
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2023 14:31
Item ID:	19812
URI:	https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/19812

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