Disinformation in the Brazilian pre-election context: probing the content, spread and implications of fake news about Lula da Silva

This research scrutinizes the content, spread, and implications of disinformation in Brazil’s 2018 pre-election period. It focuses specifically on most widely shared fake news about Lula da Silva links these with preexisting polarization political radicalization, ascertaining role context. The relied a case study mixed-methods approach that combined an online data collection propagators, interactions’ analyses, in-depth analysis meaning such news. results show successful capitalized prior hostility toward him, several originated or were spread by conservative right-wing politicians mainstream journalists, pro-Lula circulated smaller networks had overall less global reach. Facebook WhatsApp main dissemination platforms contents.