As fake news e a produção jornalística de referências

Abstract

The objective is to understand fake news in the current context of platformization, datification, and algorithmic performativity (PDAP - LEMOS, 2020b, 2020c), investigating their types, forms of circulation, who is involved in their production, circulation, and consumption, their relationship with journalism, and with the journalistic production of truth. The research seeks to investigate two hypotheses: a) fake news are a result of PDAP and are directly related to platforms and their interfaces; and b) fact-checking and fake news are distinguished by the way they are based on references they invoke. To test these hypotheses, three cases were considered: the "kit gay," the "Vaza Jato," and COVID-19. Based on Actor-Network Theory and the Modes of Existence of Moderns (LATOUR, 2019), this investigation considered false content about the cases, journalistic fact-checking, tweets, interviews, field diaries, and instant messaging app interfaces as sources. It involved techniques such as content analysis, social network analysis, interface analysis (walkthrough method), as well as the researcher's participation in public political groups on Telegram and WhatsApp. The results indicate the relationship between fake news and platforms, demonstrating how interfaces produce specific types of misinformation; determine strategies for amplifying the circulation of false content; call on specific audiences that consume fake news; and show that crowdfunding and monetization tools are related to the production and circulation of false content. The results also indicate that fact-checks and fake news rely on different references to support their claims, with fact-checks being better grounded. The study highlights the interventions of the Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program (3PFC) in newsworthiness, production routines, and fact-checking itself. Among the most common strategies used by fake news producers, the research identified the anonymization of sources, the erroneous attribution of authorship, astroturfing, the call to action, conspiracy theories, document manipulation, source errors, false connections, fraud, and the use of recipes, advice, and empiricism. The study also proposed a classification of the types of false content that circulate on WhatsApp. Based on this data, it is possible to conclude that platforms and their interfaces are directly involved in the production, circulation, and refutation of fake news.