In that way, the “Fakecracy” starts to undermine the weak democracy in the region. The use of fake news undermines democracy because it is used to cover up real Latin American problems like poverty, inequality, insecurity, etc.
However, the negative impacts of fake news go farther. Behind the use of fake news, political actors hide their real intentions: a political agenda that seeks a public conflict against specific population targets.
Behind that political agenda, you can find human rights violations. Fake News in Bolsonaro’s Campaign was used to affect LGBTIQ people and human rights defenders. Those images were used to harm the other candidates, but also to set the agenda for LGBT discrimination and Hate Speech.
So, why are these human rights violations so critical? Because they are growing by adopting bots on social media and even coordinating to disseminate these images.
Our book shows different examples to understand how Latin American political actors are using fake news through Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. There are many examples of how political actors are using fake news and stigmatization speech to pass an agenda that seeks to attack human rights defenders, journalists, and non-governmental organizations.
The use of fake news in the electoral campaign is the root of misinformation and explains the critical reality that we have in Latin America. The power of fake news acts and achieve that the constituencies do not know what they are voting. If the political campaign is guided by fake news, we are, as a society, losing the opportunity to compare the political offer based on a programmatic political debate (ideas and not political clientelism).
The use of fake news and the political intention to misinform people build a contract between citizens and political actors, which is not based on the solution of the real problems, but on keeping the social media conversations about “discourses” and not facts or answers to real problems. “I will hate those people (LGBT, Journalists, and Human Rights Defenders) more and more,” could be a common phrase of campaigns in Latin-American elections. The promises won’t regarding getting a better public policy; the promises are about something untouchable based in the attack against a specific target.
Hate speech based on fake news needs a political actor that works as a Savior, an outsider, and, following the political rhetoric, can defend “us” from the “others.” When that has happened, misinformation and ignorance have skyrocketed, making the social division in Latin American countries more profound. When this has happened, misinformation and ignorance have skyrocketed, “haters” win the elections and have the power to do more in-depth the social break in Latin-America.
Moreover, the Savior is the candidate that promotes fake news and misinformation against specific targets.
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Matias Ponce | Radio Free (2020-07-25T08:27:55+00:00) Fake News Pandemic has skyrocketed: Latin America under a Fakecracy. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/07/25/fake-news-pandemic-has-skyrocketed-latin-america-under-a-fakecracy/
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