From sharing misinformation to debunking it: How Coordinated Image Text Sharing Behaviour is used in political campaigns on Facebook

This study aims to understand how Coordinated Image Text Sharing Behaviour (CITSB) was used on Facebook during the 2022 Brazilian election, focusing on posts containing images about Lula da Silva or Jair Bolsonaro, the candidates in the Brazilian run-off election (n = 509,219 Facebook posts). The analysis is based on a script to identify CITSB on Facebook and includes social network analysis and a manual review of the most shared content. Findings show that both sides of the political divide engaged in CITSB to share promotional campaign-related content, which included criticising their opponents and promoting social media lives. Partisan accounts engaged in CITSB not only in their silos but also in other spaces on Facebook, such as local buy-and-sell Facebook groups. This indicates that CITSB was used to get the vote of undecided voters. Finally, while pro-Bolsonaro accounts engaged in CITSB to spread conspiracy theories and misinformation, pro-Lula accounts engaged in CITSB to debunk false claims about Lula.