Over the last decade, disinformation has emerged as a new thread to public life across the globe. However, the precise nature of this threat remains fuzzy, much like the concept itself. This may be partly due to the significant diversity of contexts, actors and meanings linked to false information. This article focuses specifically on political disinformation, beginning with the observation that political lies often diverge from the characteristics typically attributed to it. Political disinformation today is neither clandestine nor is it verifiably misleading its audience. Rather than locating the problem of political falsehood in its deceptive effects, this presentation aims to explore its agentic quality. The central argument posits that disinformation has become a medium for political action, serving as a means of articulating loyalty and belonging, as well as resistance and disdain. To illuminate the agency embodied in disinformation, a recontextualisation seems useful. Instead of assessing, and condemning, disinformation in terms of its low truth value, the presentation will discuss it within the wider landscape of democratic decay and populism.

Prof. Jeanette Hofmann, from WZB and Freie Universität Berlin, will hold this CEBRAP Seminar on May 9th at 17:00 at CEBRAP in São Paulo, SP.

This event counts with the support of Mecila.