Truth, lie and fake news in Lula's and Bolsonaro's speeches

an analysis of meanings from the candidates' Twitter in the campaign for president of Brazil in 2022

Abstract

The research monitored mentions of the terms “fake news”, “truth”, and “lie” in the publications of the candidates Lula and Bolsonaro on their Twitter profiles during the electoral campaign for president in the Brazilian elections 2022, to understand the meanings produced in their speeches, following the French Discourse Analysis methodology. Contemporary studies about disinformation on digital platforms bring the theoretical problematization of concepts. As a result, we have a rhetorical posture in Jair Bolsonaro's posts to reinforce a particular view of "truth" and "lie" - no citations were found for the term "fake news". On the other hand, Lula seeks to confirm the integrity of his statements or reiterate the falsity of what the opponent says, using discursive techniques similar to those of professional verifiers, concentrating all citations on the expression “fake news” in the research corpus.