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The Brazilian Presidential Election of 2018 and the relationship between technology and democracy in Latin America

Raíssa Mendes Tomaz (Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal)
Jerzui Mendes Torres Tomaz (Department of CEDU, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceio, Brazil)

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society

ISSN: 1477-996X

Article publication date: 29 January 2020

Issue publication date: 20 October 2020

311

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper selected by ICIL 2019 committee in Rome is to demonstrate the current importance of the internet in the protection of democracy in developting countries.

Design/methodology/approach

It is intended to make a comparison with the growing and current phenomenon of Brazilian disinformation with other contemporary phenomena related to new technologies through literature review methodology.

Findings

The Brazilian elections in 2018 represent an authentic model in a post-Cambridge Analytical phase where the myth of the sanctity of data has been broken. The big influence of the algorithmic revolution on democracies in Latin America has never been more evident. The misuse of algorithms created an artificial environment that does not put us in contact with different realities; the consequences of this conjuncture have the deepest impacts, especially in countries that rely on a deficient educational system.

Social implications

Besides that, the broad use of zero-rating on the internet delivery in developing countries is also considered a factor of fake news dissemination. The information bubbles promote political polarization to the detriment of diversity – and the diversity is par excellence one of the pillars of democracy.

Originality/value

The research about the impact that the phenomenon of disinformation has on underdeveloped countries, it is essential to analyze the new role of the legislator in the elaboration of hypercomplex laws with multi-stakeholder interests that respect the essential core of digital human rights as the freedom of expression online.

Keywords

Citation

Tomaz, R.M. and Tomaz, J.M.T. (2020), "The Brazilian Presidential Election of 2018 and the relationship between technology and democracy in Latin America", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 497-509. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-12-2019-0134

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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