Liberdade de expressão e a propagação de fake news nas redes sociais

Abstract

The work aims to analyze the thesis of freedom of speech and the propagation of fake news in social networks. In order to do so, key themes for the discussion were addressed, such as the concepts of freedom of speech and fake news, the presence or absence of these terms in the Brazilian legal system, the importance and relevance of these terms today, the role played by the three powers in combating fake news, as well as the work done by private institutions in identifying and combating disinformation. It was also discussed the influence of fake news in the U.S. and national presidential elections, in which certain political candidates knew how to take very good advantage of the power of social networks to spread false and incorrect news, aiming to gain popular and media recognition, strengthening their influence among their loyal voters. In addition, the spread of fake news during the pandemic caused by the covid-19 virus was addressed, a period in which several drugs without scientific proof were promoted on social networks by the same candidates who spread fake news during the elections. Finally, we addressed the fact that freedom of speech should be respected, but the individual who expresses himself in a criminal way should be held responsible, which fuels the discussion about freedom of speech versus censorship