DRI and FGV Comunicação Rio identify risks and recommendations for the 2024 municipal elections

The 5th Cycle of the Media and Democracy Council focused on the 2024 Municipal Elections, featuring participants from Democracy Reporting International (DRI), FGV Comunicação Rio, and the Secretary of Communication of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Giselly Siqueira, who learned about the monitoring work of the lab. The team presented to the Secretary the risks identified in the digital environment that could threaten electoral integrity during the 2024 elections. The main objective of the meeting was to identify the actors, narratives, and behaviors in this context, as well as specific issues, and most importantly, recommendations that the organizations within the council could suggest to address the potential threats.

The detailed agenda and issues discussed were divided into the categories of hate speech and online violence; disinformation; polarization; and political ads. The discussions in the meetings related to these categories provided insights into platform regulation, the taxation of business models, policy proposals, oversight, systematization of experiences, and promotion of media literacy.

The concerns and themes highlighted are as follows: concern with polarization, which can trigger moral panic and the activation of sensitive topics; disinformation as part of the communication strategy of governments and campaigns, and the discourse on reducing freedoms, which strengthens from the TSE resolution that holds content producers responsible for attacking the integrity of the electoral process. At the same time, political groups promote disinformation by presenting themselves as victims of persecution by executive and judicial authorities. Furthermore, the omission of digital platforms in controlling online violence contributes to the rise of these discourses.

Therefore, the orchestrated attack is directed not only at the electoral system but also at the democratic system itself. Also highlighted is how this idea spreads concerningly among young people and the use of disinformation as a communication strategy for governments and campaigns, contributing to the radicalization of debates by focusing on belief rather than evidence-based truth.

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