Lula’s ‘Brazil against Fake’ has errors and inconsistencies – 03/06/2023 – Politics

On the home page of the website Brasil contra Fake, an initiative launched by the Lula government (PT) in March to combat disinformation, the message appears: “Here you will find answers to the main fake news involving the federal government”.

However, amid denials warning the population against online scams or about the end of social benefits, the site also brings texts with incorrect data, without transparency about the sources or even inconsistent in their arguments.

Brasil contra Fake is part of a broader offensive by the current government with the justification of combating disinformation, which included a controversial proposal for a “Prosecutor’s Office for Democracy”, the Ministry of Justice’s work with platforms and suggestions for the PL of Fake News in Chamber. At the moment, a public consultation on the media education policy is open

On the website that is under the umbrella of Secom (Secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic), commanded by Minister Paulo Pimenta, one of the publications says: “Government did not impose secrecy on visits to the Palácio da Alvorada”.

The Lula government’s GSI (Institutional Security Office), however, barred access to the list of visitors to Alvorada on the grounds that the data had “confidential classification in the reserved grade”. Afterwards, citing an understanding of the CGU (Controladoria-Geral da União) in February, he said that he would restrict access only to personal visits.

On its website, Secom says that “the CGU confirms the secrecy imposed by the LAI [Lei de Acesso à Informação] to information that reveals aspects of the intimacy and private life of public authorities and their family members”. Sheet about the title, the folder says it considers that it is not possible to talk about enactment of secrecy without a specific administrative act.

In a publication from the end of May, when refuting that the government had announced the interruption of the dissemination of data referring to cases and deaths from Covid-19, the website states that the Coronavirus panel of the Ministry of Health continues to be updated daily, when in fact In March, the ministry announced that the data would be released weekly.

A Sheet Secom said it was based on the “about” tab of the ministry’s panel – the text of Brazil against Fake was still incorrect until the publication of this report.

Specialists consulted by the report have different opinions about the site, but all indicate that there are aspects to be improved.

Ivan Paganotti, professor of journalism at Universidade Metodista and co-founder of the media education course Vaza, Falsiane!, considers it defensible that the government has an institutional communication page to publish its position, but emphasizes that measures must be taken so that citizens do not confuse the initiative with the work of independent checking agencies.

He points out format problems in part of the texts, such as the lack of identification of the methodology, indicating which elements were considered in the preparation of the note, such as the use of a database or access to a video.

“The posts from Brazil against Fake do not always have this transparency, this concern with the sources”, says Paganotti. “There you basically have one speech against the other, the speech in the official statement from the government’s official communication versus what is circulating on social networks, without necessarily having a foundation, a support in facts.”

Published at the end of March, a two-paragraph text from Brazil against Fake has the title: “Furniture was bought to rebuild property destroyed on January 8”. No documents or any details regarding the purchase are presented.

The text states that it is false information that the president would have to “refund the value of furniture purchased by the Planalto Palace”.

The misinformation that circulated in this regard, however, had as reference a purchase without bidding, whose furniture was destined for the Palácio da Alvorada —which was not the target of an invasion on January 8.

A Sheet asked if the text was about any other furniture purchases. In this case, links or prints of uninformative content about another purchase should be sent. Secom responded in the affirmative and sent a link from Kwai, stating that the content had been deleted by the platform.

He also said that “this same fake news was refuted by UOL”. The text sent, however, also refers to the waiver of bidding 7/2023, which served to purchase furniture for Alvorada.

Januária Cristina Alves, journalist and specialist in media education, master in social communication from USP (University of São Paulo), sees Brazil’s initiative against Fake as positive, but criticizes very short texts and defends the presentation of more evidence.

“They are the source [de informação]if they are going to disclose something as a source that, when checked, may leave doubts or eventually may not even be true, it is serious, you lose credibility”, she says, who also emphasizes the use of language that appeals to emotion.

Nara Pavão, in turn, who is a political scientist and professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco, sees the initiative negatively, as she believes that it stretches the concept of disinformation.

“We can only combat misinformation when we are precise about what is false or what is not,” he says. “Everything that we are not precise about is a great disservice, because then you enter into that political debate, about what is false, what is negative against me, against a political group.”

In a text that denies that the vaccine can cause Alzheimer’s, there are problems both regarding the transparency of the sources used and inconsistencies in the arguments, according to the evaluation of doctors consulted by the Sheet.

When accessing the only file linked in the text, it is not possible to identify its title and authorship – the PDF starts at the “introduction”. No studies or experts are cited in the text.

Furthermore, the linked document has nothing to do with Alzheimer’s or a similar disease. As reported by Secom, this is a 2010 master’s work. The theme, in general terms, is the production of antibodies with snake venom. The intersection point is that he talks about adjuvants, the substance present in the vaccine and the target of false news denied.

“There is already enough knowledge to know that the vaccine does not cause Alzheimer’s. But that is not answered there [no texto do governo]”, explains Claudio Maierovitch, sanitary doctor at Fiocruz in Brasilia and vice president of Abrasco (Brazilian Association of Collective Health).

Immunologist Gustavo Cabral, who works with vaccine development at USP’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, also believes that the references in the text do not adequately support what is being denied. He points out that this type of text could be easily unraveled by producers of vaccine misinformation.

The two doctors see an error in the argument. “Stating that any adverse event would be observed in clinical trials is not true, but the vaccines we have and the adjuvants have already been used in sufficient quantity and time for any problems to be detected and studied”, explains Maierovitch.

Asked if it would have used other sources and studies for the text, Secom did not say if it had used it, but presented scientific references and explanations in the answer that are not included in what was published on its website.

Secom states that there is no scientific evidence relating vaccines to dementia and points out that “as evidenced by Lehrer and Rheinstein, vaccines against influenza, pneumonia, among others, administered to the elderly, can reduce the risk of later Alzheimer’s disease”, indicating two other studies.

Thaiane Oliveira, a professor at the postgraduate program in communication at the Fluminense Federal University, sees Brazil’s initiative against Fake as important, but considers that it is necessary to advance in some aspects of scientific texts, such as the use of more didactic language and greater care, to prevent text from being distorted afterwards.

Patrícia Rossini, professor in the area of ​​communication, media and democracy at the University of Glasgow, questions the effectiveness of this type of action, not only because of the difficulty in reaching people who have had contact with disinformation, but also because of the lack of institutional trust nurtured by sectors of the population and the lack of independence of the initiative.

See examples of inconsistencies in Brazil against Fake

Secrecy of visits in Alvorada

In March, the GSI denied access to Alvorada’s visit list, claiming secrecy. Then, citing understanding of the February CGU, he said that he would restrict access only to personal visits.
One of the texts on the Secom website has the title: “Government did not impose secrecy on visits to the Alvorada Palace”. In the same text, Secom says that “the CGU confirms the secrecy imposed by the LAI on information that reveals aspects of the intimacy and private life of public authorities and their families.”

wanted by Sheet about the title, the folder says it considers that it is not possible to talk about enactment of secrecy without a specific administrative act.

Disclosure of Covid-19 data

In a text with the title “Brazilian government continues to disclose data related to Covid-19”, the Brasil contra Fake website denies that the government has announced the interruption of the dissemination of data related to Covid-19, stating that the Coronavirus Panel “is updated daily with information from state health departments”. In March, however, the Ministry of Health issued a note stating that the secretariats would start sending disease data weekly.

Alvorada furniture

In a text with the title “Furniture was purchased to restore property destroyed on January 8”, Brazil against Fake states that it does not apply to information reflected on social networks that President Lula “should refund the value of furniture purchased by the Planalto Palace” .

Since February, the Lula government has been the target of criticism from the opposition and the target of misinformation on the networks due to a purchase of furniture through a bid waiver published in the Official Gazette on February 3. The amount initially disclosed was R$ 379 thousand.

In April, the Sheet disclosed, based on information provided by the government, that the purchase amounted to R$ 196,700 in five pieces of furniture and a mattress for the Palácio da Alvorada —which was not the target of an invasion on January 8. The other goods were not delivered, hence the different values.

Vaccine
A text from Brazil against Fake that denies that the vaccine can cause Alzheimer’s has problems with the transparency of the sources used and inconsistencies in the argument, according to the evaluation of doctors consulted by the Sheet. They explain that there are different scientific articles that could have been used to support the text.

However, when accessing the only file linked in the text, it is not possible to identify its title and authorship – the PDF starts at the “introduction”. No studies or experts are cited in the text.

Furthermore, the linked document has nothing to do with Alzheimer’s or a similar disease. As reported by Secom, this is a 2010 master’s work. The theme, in general terms, is the production of antibodies with snake venom. The intersection point is that he talks about adjuvants, the substance present in the vaccine and the target of false news denied.