Misinformation, health and science: the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

Abstract

In this paper, the idea is to present the context of disinformation in the field of Brazilian public health - especially in the pandemic scenario in which the world has lived since 2020. The discussion of how the Brazilian government, led by Jair Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), used disinformation to distort the fight against Covid-19 in the country is the case of analysis in the research. As methods, we use the discussion of the literature on the political economy of information and disinformation and on the infodemic, in addition to the situational analysis of the management of the pandemic in Brazil. As conclusions, it is identified how disinformation brings harmful effects to public health and how it fits as a political communication strategy.