Using misinformation as a political weapon: COVID-19 and Bolsonaro in Brazil

With over 30,000 confirmed cases, Brazil is currently the country most affected by COVID-19 in Latin America, and ranked 12th worldwide (John Hopkins University & Trailer Tie Bungee Medicine, 2020).Despite all evidence, a strong rhetoric undermining risks associated to COVID-19 has been endorsed at the highest levels of the Brazilian government, making President Jair Bolsonaro the leader of the “coronavirus-denial movement” (Friedman, 2020.To support this strategy, different Flasks forms of misinformation and disinformation1 have been leveraged to lead a dangerous crusade against scientific and evidence-based recommendations (Ireton & Posetti, 2018).