(“hyper-partisan media,” instead of false news) as an outcome of the polarization of the public sphere. Magrani and Oliveira (2018) underscore how disinformation impacts not only on political events, but on public debate as a whole. Osuna and Soforza (2020) note that the phenomenon has grown in the face of the credibility crisis in journalism and the traditional media. Some authors ascribe a key role in the credibility crisis to changes in communications, especially with the advent of the internet and digital platforms, while others see the changes in the media landscape and the rise of information disorder as a consequence of or as linked to processes of political polarization (Flax 2020; Marino 2019). Albuquerque (2020) stresses that behind the phenomenon is the dispute over the very definition of truth. The institutions and the practices found in the fight against fake news through fact-checking agencies and within multilateral institutions and academia involve a domination of the Global North over the Global South. 3. APPROACHES TO RESEARCH ON DISINFORMATION IN THE REGION Among the approaches of the papers that were evaluated, three major categories can be identified. The first involves a debate about the phenomenon itself and its constitutive features, examples of which were discussed in the previous section. The second consists in exploring concrete examples and cases of disinformation in different territories and time periods. The third approach focuses on efforts to combat the problem and the different responses used to mitigate or eliminate this practice and its effects. In the second group (studies on specific disinformation practices and cases), a prevalent theme is political processes, especially electoral ones. Some of the works are comparative studies; for example, Falomir et al. (2019) analyzed cases in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Paraguay, and Sued and Kedikian (2020) compared Argentina and Mexico. Other works investigate events in particular nations: Copa and Peredo Rodríguez (2020) assessed the 2019 elections in Bolivia; RodríguezHidalgo, Mier-Sanmartín, and Coronel-Salas (2020) focused on the 2019 elections in Ecuador; and Sánchez (2021) investigated the 2018 elections in Mexico. I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Other types of political processes, such as referendums and protests, have also been the object of attention. Pérez, Calderón, and Coronado (2021) analyzed disinformation in the so-called “paro nacional de Colombia” (national protest of Colombia) of November 21, 2019. Salinas (2020) and González (2017) address the spread of disinformation in Colombia’s 2016 peace referendum. Piaia (2018) evaluated misleading content in the process that led to former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment in 2016. Dourado (2020) discusses the spread of false news during the 2018 elections in Brazil. Despite the recency of the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2019/early 2020, the prevalence of disinformation practices related to the pandemic has given rise to several articles and chapters by Latin American researchers (Neto et al. 2020; Rodríguez, Viloria, and Torrealba 2020; Vasconcellos-Silva and Castiel 2020; Venturini and Souza 2020). A number of scholars have analyzed what has come to be considered the “infodemic” (Bacci 2020; Becerra 2020; Cobos 2020; Gómez and Orozco 2021), defined as a profusion of false content related to various aspects of the pandemic, from miracle cures to false information about vaccines and non-pharmacological measures. Ceron et al. (2021) point out a strong relationship between false content related to Covid-19 and political motivations and conflicts. Gutiérrez-Coba, Coba-Gutiérrez, and Gómez-Díaz (2020) analyzed the infodemic phenomenon in Latin American countries and found that the most common types of false content were ideological and misleading messages from governments and political authorities. Garcés-Prettel et al. (2021) identified one effect of disinformation consumption to be the generation of anxiety or stress among respondents who have received such content. Both during the pandemic and more generally, some studies Both during the have focused on audiences’ habits. pandemic and more Moreira et al. (2021) evaluated 938 generally, some studies publications that circulated in Brazil have focused on during the first year of the pandemic, audiences’ habits. which was 2020. Calzado, Cirulli, and Lio (2021) evaluated information consumption behavior in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recuero and Gruzd (2019) analyzed the streams of fake news on Twitter during the trial and arrest of former Brazilian President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva. Valenzuela et al. (2019) examined information consumption habits and the spread of disinformation in Chile. Latin America and the Caribbean – 1 2 5

Select target paragraph3