Enfrentando a desinformação ambiental nas redes sociais: perspectivas jurídicas no cenário brasileiro

Abstract

This study investigates the legal repercussions of the dissemination of fake news about the environment by economic and political groups interested in manipulating public opinion through social media. The work seeks to answer the following question: what legal strategies can be adopted in Brazil to combat environmental disinformation on social media? Using a qualitative approach, the research examined bibliographical and documentary sources from which it was possible to formulate conclusions based on the analytical-deductive method. The text is divided into three parts. The first chapter analyses the structural aspects of social networks that contribute to the success of disinformation campaigns, as well as the main tactics employed by those who spread fake news about the environment. The second chapter investigates the contours of the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, access to information and free enterprise, considering that these guarantees establish parameters for the development of disinformation control strategies. The final chapter examines the legal strategies for combating disinformation suggested by specialised literature. The study concluded that combating environmental disinformation, as a complex and multifactorial phenomenon, requires the implementation of a set of non-punitive and punitive legal strategies. Non-punitive approaches include interventions aimed at empowering users and preventing exposure to fake news. It has been shown that empowerment can be achieved through digital literacy, environmental education, inoculation campaigns, user control of recommendation parameters, prioritization of news from verified journalistic sources, access to plural sources of information on topics of public relevance and facilitating access to fact-checking tools, with the use of resources such as labelling and the addition of contextual information. Preventing exposure to disinformation, in turn, depends on measures such as effectively combating manipulative behavior, strict control over advertising that conveys environmental information, with observance of the right of reply in cases where inaccuracies are found, and the implementation of a mechanism to temporarily halt the spread of viral publications that have not been subjected to a verification procedure. All of these actions must be constantly evaluated by a public oversight system capable of guaranteeing that the social interest is met and of interacting with the sectors concerned in the search for solutions that are always up to date. In terms of punitive strategies, classifying environmental disinformation as an act of improbity that violates the principles of public administration and as a political-administrative infraction has proven to be a proportionate measure to curb the abusive use of the state structure by those who perform public functions. However, the same cannot be said for the criminalization of disinformation, as other less restrictive means of tackling the problem have not yet been found to be insufficient. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]