“Contaminated Science” analyzes more than 11,000 YouTube videos on the coronavirus and describes the main networks where disinformation campaigns on the topic are disseminated. The study also deep-dives into some of these fake news networks, to study the spread of conspiracy theories, alternative medicine and other pseudo-scientific content.
Produced between February and May 2020, the report monitors and maps the successive waves of disinformation campaigns on Covid19. This study uses both computational methodologies, such as network analysis and natural language processing, and qualitative methods.
The project aims, above all, to protect the quality of democracy and the circulation of information in the internet age. This is the first in the Infected Democracy series, made in partnership with LAUT, the National Institute of Science and Technology in Digital Democracy (INCT.DD) and the Center for Studies and Research on Health Law (Cepedisa). The analysis was conducted by Caio C. Vieira Machado, Daniel A. Dourado, Nina Santos and João Guilherme dos Santos.
