The different conceptualizations carry different
emphases. Authors who adopt the concept of
post-truth, such as Fernández-García (2017) and
Busaniche (2020), emphasize that this practice is
not about knowing or not knowing the veracity of
a fact, but rather about disregarding the very facts
to assert one’s own stance. Some authors, such as
Hernández (2020a) and Valenzuela et al. (2019),
point out the insufficiency of terms such as “fake
news” and advocate the use of “disinformation.”
Recuero and Soares (2021) and Laguna (2020), for
example, argue that the element of intentionality
is a defining characteristic of disinformation. Silva
Jr. et al. (2020) list contrived information and the
generation of harm to third parties as necessary
components of disinformation.
Divergences also appear in the circumscription
of the phenomenon. Pérez (2019) argues that
disinformation encompasses fraudulent information
(fake news), misleading content, hate speech
(malinformation), deliberately spurious speech
(false speech), and unintentional informational
errors committed by journalists (misinformation).
Hernández (2020b) also considers errors and
forms of manipulation as part of the phenomenon.
Other authors (Barbosa, Martins, and Valente 2021;
Delmazo and Valente 2018; Recuero and Soares
2021) offer a more restricted understanding,
pinning down the practice as one with a factually
false dimension, marked by the intention to
produce damage or to obtain political or economic
advantages.
Authors such as Lazcano (2020) and Copa and
Peredo Rodríguez (2020) describe disinformation
as a far-reaching phenomenon, not limited to
messages and one-off campaigns. It is a cyclical
process that extends beyond elections or political
procedures, with impacts on the construction of
imaginaries in society.
2.2 PERSPECTIVES ON
DISINFORMATION
A recurrent assessment among Latin American
scholars is that disinformation is a historical
phenomenon with manifestations long predating
the most recent episodes (Bisbal 2020; Hernández
Pérez 2018; Zaniboni 2019). Botero (2002), for
I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH
example, discusses disinformation in Plan Colombia,
the US initiative aimed at combating drug cartels in
that country, between 1998 and 2002.
Effectively, one aspect of the approaches found
in the region is to analyze disinformation not
only on digital platforms, but also in traditional
communication media. There is also a focus on the
relationship between these institutions and political
groups, for example during elections and in terms
of their support for or opposition to governments
(Falomir et al. 2019; Jaramillo 2007; Rodríguez
2013; Serra 2016).
Another characteristic of the Latin American
and Caribbean approach examined in the literature
is the role of political authorities and governments
themselves as promoters of disinformation. Through
a comparison of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico,
Bizberge and Segura (2020) highlight the role of
these political agents at the state level, especially
during the Covid-19 pandemic. Viscardi (2020)
examined the false claims in Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro’s Twitter posts from 2019 to 2022.
Although this practice is linked to traditional
communication media, several authors emphasize
the role of the internet, and especially of digital
platforms, in the formation of new environments
that have driven the production and diffusion
of misleading content. This is facilitated by
these platforms’ business models and modes of
information circulation, which are powered by
the collection and processing of user data (Cobos
2020; Ceron et al. 2021; Mielli and Romanini 2021;
Hernández Pérez 2018; Hernández Pérez 2021;
Pérez 2021; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Mier-Sanmartín,
and Coronel-Salas 2020; Schneider and Valente
2021; Valente 2021).
Other authors accentuate the relevance of
algorithms used by platforms as systems that drive
disinformation (Sued 2021; Zaniboni 2019). Sued
and Kedikian (2020) list algorithms and other
technologies such as bots as elements employed
to drive an ecosystem of disinformation. Some
authors (Calzado, Cirulli, and Lio 2021; CrawfordVisbal, Osman, and Navia 2020; Cusot and Palacios
2020) point to the role of users and recipients as
audiences who have come to take on a more active
role in the production and dissemination of content,
including disinformation.
A number of authors situate the phenomenon
within a broader context, such as political
polarization (Marino 2019) or attacks on democracy
(Cañabate, Rosa, and Rojano 2020; Carvalho 2020;
Flax 2020; Pineda et al. 2019). Ribeiro and Ortellado
(2018) posit what they call mídia hiper-partidária
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