Sao Paolo's skyline at dusk. Image: Francesc Badia i Dalmases. All rights reserved.
A dangerous polarisation exists in Brazilian society. On one
hand, there are 3000 million reales (725 million US dollars) in public
resources from the Electoral and Party Politics Fund to be used during
electoral campaigns by parties and candidates.
On the other, there are the
legal gaps and shortcuts that facilitate the spread of fake news with
sophisticated technology that can influence the results of the elections.
The past year has seen Brazil turned into a laboratory for
constructing proposals to perfect the electoral propaganda machine over the
internet. It has become an opportunity for decision makers, civil society,
legislators and educators to identify and deal with the faults in the flow and
processing of intentional misinformation and dishonesty.
In a recent investigation presented by the ITE (Institute of
Technology and Equity), the organisation identified robots programmed to
simulate human behaviour over social media that are fed by information
automation technologies.
Also known as bots, these machines work to collect
information, on executing actions, content creation and how to simulate users
on social media, responding and interacting with real people.
Even before the current electoral cycle began, it was possible to observe how bots are able to exploit content from certain politicians, creating a scenario where some topics of interest within the bubble of particular candidates reach voters from entirely different political groupings.
Within the social media bubbles that generate intersections
between politicians, organisations, institutions and those who influence public
opinions online regarding issues such as abortion, legalisation of drugs,
reduction of age limits etc, bots create an illusion of spontaneous consensus
on a large scale.
They manipulate trending topics, they initiate movements
through their network of bots, and they facilitate the reinforcement of this
system by human users.
Even before the current electoral cycle began, it was
possible to observe how bots are able to exploit content from certain
politicians, creating a scenario where some topics of interest within the
bubble of particular candidates reach voters from entirely different political
groupings.
Technologies and tools exist for many different situations
for the purpose of increasing efficiency of the impact these automatic actions
have, such as the use of artificial intelligence to give life to communication
robots without being recognised, and the use of deep-fakes, techniques that
allow the superimposing of images and videos over original content, thus
creating fake images, audios and videos that are increasingly harder to
identify.
In this context, Brazil needs to define a legislation
specifically for electoral propaganda on the internet that addresses the use of
personal data in electoral campaigns, artificial intelligence tools, fake news,
technology transparency, external monitoring, investments and support.
The
authorities, with the active participation of civil society, must improve the
flow of well founded allegations. It is necessary that these accusations are
more streamlined and that they lead to
judicial proceedings if applicable.
It is necessary that content checks to identify
misinformation and categorised and distributed on a large scale. Implementing
protocols that facilitate the rapid dissemination of checking information on
technological platforms and social networks is a part of this.
Google,
Facebook, and Twitter must make an effect to provide answers and to combat the algorithmic
distribution of misinformation. It is extremely important to act drastically to
reduce the reach of fake information, eliminating the financial incentives for
its existence, and to increase the contractual sanctions for offences.
Promoting more balanced, equal and transparent financing
models is fundamental, supporting the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) in
establishing the execution of the electoral and political party fund using
tokens within a block-chain of the tribunal.
This would increase levels of
trust in public funding and its transparency, considering it would be possible
to trace the destinations of public resources not only regarding transfers but
also applications, with concrete evidence that shows they have been used for
their intended purpose.
What’s more, measures that assure and reinforce intellectual
development and literacy regarding tackling misinformation in schools, are of
particular importance for the strengthening of journalism with actions that
develop communication and verification of facts on social networks as a way to
assure the quality of public debates, reinforcing the culture of veracity.
In these up and coming elections, a significant sector of
the Brazilian population affected by political debates via the internet will participate.
Generally speaking, there is already a strong disbelief in relation to representation
within the political system and the politicians themselves.
There is also a
dangerous division/polarisation within society and a process of misinformation
that is only intensified by new technologies and social networks, that feed
into this polarisation.
In these up and coming elections, a significant sector of the Brazilian population affected by political debates via the internet will participate.
In this context, it becomes necessary to strengthen actions
of strategic actors so that citizens have the tools to identify legitimate
content, to promote a broader understanding of the issue, and to assure quality
of debates to achieve a more participatory, a fairer and more transparent
electoral process.
We understand that informed and democratic elections are
those in which the objective to provide voters with legitimate information
regarding candidates and their proposals exists.
Informed elections mean to not
be deceived by distorted or false information, and mostly, they mean the right
to participate in a debate in which ideas are not driven by hatred and
intolerance.