Fake news about the tragedy in the South: ‘They make fun of other people’s lives and gloat over the dead’, says expert

Meanwhile, however, another army is mobilizing on social media to create and distribute false information about the tragedy.

Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul reported that at least 78 people died due to the heavy rains that have hit the state since last week. As of 6pm on Sunday (5/5), the Rio Grande do Sul Civil Defense reported at least 105 missing people. Around 115 thousand people were homeless.

According to the state Civil Defense, 341 of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul were affected by the heavy rains that have been ongoing since the beginning of the week. There are 844 thousand people affected by the floods.

In the midst of this tragedy, the BBC report identified several cases of misinformation, confirmed by experts, which were widely disseminated on social media.

Some of those that stood out the most last weekend were the false information that the government had moved to fine the boatmen who rescue the victims and that the federal government had sponsored Madonna’s concert in Rio de Janeiro.

“Madonna’s show was paid for by Itaú and Heineken, with support from Rio’s city hall and the state government,” he said.

The executive editor of To the Facts (investigation platform against disinformation), Fernanda da Escóssia, says that these efforts to respond to fake news harm rescues.

“In this ecosystem, misinformation mocks the lives of others, gloats about the dead and is not embarrassed to produce false content with the aim of getting clicks, engagement and monetization by adhering to a political position”, he says.

Escóssia reinforces that the risks in a tragedy are great and that misinformation amplifies them. For her, fake news diverts attention to non-existent problems.

“It (fake news) has a very perverse effect. They hinder the authorities’ work in helping victims, as they have to deny false content. This harms the work of those who have to provide assistance and generates waves of panic,” she says.

A report released by the government of Rio Grande do Sul on Sunday afternoon (5/5) reported that there are six hydroelectric dams in an emergency situation, with an imminent risk of failure. According to the government of Rio Grande do Sul, this indicates that “measures must be taken to preserve lives”.

Among these measures is the removal of families from areas that could be affected if a rupture occurs. The number of families in this situation was not reported.

Fabricio Pontin, who is a professor of International Relations at La Salle University in Porto Alegre and neighboring Canoas, is involved in the actions to collect donations for those affected, at the same time as he observes the discourse on the networks about the tragedy.

Analyzing the dynamics of the creation and circulation of disinformation on digital platforms is one of his research objects. For Pontin, a phenomenon of “repolarization of the narrative about the catastrophe” is taking place.

“In moments like these, we need reliable information. False information about a bridge collapsing, or about a robbery, or a raid can cost lives,” he says. At the same time, he assesses, it is precisely in moments of commotion like the current one that “it is extremely difficult, from a cognitive point of view, to leave your previous position, whatever it may be”.

“Fake news consolidates the position you already have and the network you already have”, as a way “to strengthen your networks of affection”.

They are often real networks, such as condominium or football groups, enhanced by the speed and intensity of exchanges in the networks.

“Events like the one now cause a huge cognitive disorder. And reacting to this has a cognitive cost, a very high personal cost. The tendency for all of us is to return to a cognitive place of safety,” she says.

“People who are against the government are finding narratives in this crisis that consolidate their position of being against the government, against taxes, against institutions. And, in the same way, you find a [narrativa] anticapitalist [do outro lado]. In all social groups, this consolidation seems to be taking place.”

He points to the creation of a language of familiarity that appears in narratives of specific groups. “It could be a language of paranoia with the State, or paranoia with the private sector. Of paranoia with this imagined ‘other’, who is an adversary.”

For him, “associating this [as fake news ou a criação de narrativas] only with the extreme right is it a wrong reflection.”

“We all stick to aspects of information that are false aspects, that have a false element, [que] they enter into assertions that consolidate our place of belief”, he explains.

The issue, he says, is that on the radical right, these networks are extremely professional. “There are a lot of people making a lot of money from all this, so you can’t ignore that there is this factor either.”

Fernanda da Escóssia, who is also a professor at the Faculty of Social Communication at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), explains that digital influencers make money by spreading fake news on the networks. The money, according to her, is paid by companies from the monetization of content published on their platforms.

She calls this movement the “professionalization of fake news”.

“Once again, the disinformation system is working to use the pain of the tragedy to gain engagement, monetize and criticize politics,” he states.

She says that all social networks can be monetized, without pointing out a favorite of those who spread fake news. She points out that the website To the Facts It carefully monitors the spread of this false content and will check some of it.

To prevent misinformation from being further spread, she recommends that people not share content that they are not sure is true.

She advises that, to avoid sharing false content, people need to be suspicious of what they receive. She recommends evaluating whether the source of the information is trustworthy, such as a recognized journalism outlet.

Then, she must look for the same information in other sources to confirm it on other trusted websites or pages.

She warns that false content is often passed on with a sense of urgency, with requests to share it immediately with as many people as possible. And he emphasizes that it is still very difficult for the reader to differentiate what is true and false.

“It is difficult for him because it is possible today to make a deep fake and using the face of a famous person advertising something false because these technologies are increasingly sophisticated”, he says.

And reinforces that, when in doubt, it is better not to share.

“The intention is not to become a useful innocent and not to spread disinformation content.”