and additional information. Since 2012 it has been
hosted by and has received revenue from the R7
portal, linked to the Record group, owner of the
third-largest TV station in the country.
MORE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: AOS FATOS
AND AGÊNCIA LUPA
Several agencies have been established more
recently, a trend that seems to follow the growth of
disinformation on social media. Two examples are
Aos Fatos34 and Agência Lupa,35 both of which have
become well known and developed partnerships
both with digital platforms and with public bodies,
such as the TSE. These agencies work not only
with verification, but also with the production of
information. During the 2018 elections, they started
to mobilize advocacy efforts through institutional
dialogues with the TSE, proposing measures to
mitigate the profusion of disinformation.
FACT-CHECKING INITIATIVES ASSOCIATED
WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA
In Brazil, there are also verification initiatives
associated with traditional media. During the
presidential elections of 2018, the Comprova36
project was created as a data verification network,
driven by the Brazilian Association of Investigative
Journalism. Today it has representatives from thirtythree media outlets and is supported by funding
from Facebook and Google. Fato ou Fake37 is an
initiative of the largest media group in the country,
Grupo Globo. Estadão Verifica38 is a blog published
on the website of O Estado de São Paulo, one of the
most traditional newspapers in the country. UOL
Confere is the fact-checking project of UOL,39 one
of the largest content companies in the country,
which is controlled by one of the main print groups,
Folha. There is also a verification initiative run by
AFP, which is called AFP Checamos.40
MEDIA EDUCATION
INSTITUTO PALAVRA ABERTA
The Instituto Palavra Aberta is one of the
organizations in Brazil focused on media
education. It was responsible for the development,
in partnership with Google, of the EducaMídia
program, a project that aims at training teachers
and education managers on the subject. The
EducaMídia website41 provides content, resources,
and documents for education workers to apply
in their daily training activities. The project
also explains what media education is and the
importance of this approach in the education of
citizens. The topic is addressed in a guide, which
I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH
presents the organization’s educational perspective
regarding ICT.
Besides working with educators, the EducaMídia
project also offers activities for different audiences,
with a focus on vulnerable communities, such as
courses for the elderly. The Instituto Palavra Aberta
has been defending the practice of media education
as a new form of literacy, according to Daniela
Machado (interview, August 2021) of EducaMídia:
“We have been considering media education as
a new way of dealing with information. The very
concept of literacy changes as technologies and
the way we relate to information change. What
is literacy today? It goes beyond reading words
printed on a piece of paper.”
INCT.DD
Regarding media education and research, it is
also worth mentioning the Instituto Nacional
de Ciência e Tecnologia em Democracia Digital
(INCT.DD, National Institute of Science and
Technology for Digital Democracy), a network of
researchers from several educational institutions
coordinated by the Federal University
of Bahia (Universidade Federal da
INCT.DD brings together
Bahia). The institute brings together
multidisciplinary teams
multidisciplinary teams for the analysis
for the analysis of
of disinformation practices. A diverse
disinformation practices.
range of professionals are involved in the
projects, from linguists to programmers,
and also social scientists, who bring together the
quantitative and qualitative aspects of the analysis
of social media and the circulation of misleading
content in these environments. The institute has
carried out research on false content associated
with democratic institutions, such as content that
targeted the Electoral Justice as well as content
targeting the press and and media professionals.
INCT.DD also offers training on disinformation
through a six-hour course consisting of twelve
classes, offered on digital platforms. The target
audience of the course is diverse and includes
journalists, fact checkers, researchers, and other
interested people.
FGV DAPP
Another renowned research center in the country is
FGV DAPP, linked to the Getúlio Vargas Foundation,
an educational institution. It organizes studies
on various types of content related to different
kinds of disinformation practices. The group has
prepared research on disinformation about the
electoral system on Facebook and YouTube, in
partnership with the TSE. FGV DAPP also promotes
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