CfP Misinformation and Disinformation on Digital Platforms in the Pandemic - Special Issue

Misinformation and Disinformation on Digital Platforms in the Pandemic

Fronteiras Special Issue

Guest editors

Ronaldo Henn (Unisinos University, Brazil)

Carlos d’Andréa (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil)

The emergence of disinformation and misinformation on digital platforms, through the so-called fake news and its new forms of circulation, requires efforts to understand many academic fields. The presidential elections in Brazil in 2018, as well as the 2016 US elections, revealed the power of affect in circulation of narratives about untrue events. Misinformation and disinformation become especially complicated when it finds circulation on WhatsApp groups. Other problems are orchestrated use of automated accounts, algorithmic biases and / or practices of content moderation and other forms of governance. In the context of Covid-19 pandemic, disinformation and misinformation is spreading very fast, and the contents are replicated without any confirmation or scientific evidence.  World Health Organization adopted “infodemic” to name not only what is untrue, but also the excess of information in circulation. At the same time, deep fake is now dealt with edited images and videos in fictitious situations, enhanced by the action of AI, machine learning and bots.

In this context, Fronteiras Journal, an open access journal, invites submissions to our special issue “Misinformation and Disinformation on Digital Platforms in the Pandemic”. The special issue encourages submissions that explore one or more of the following issues:

- Adjustments and innovations in journalism practices

- Changes in scientific practices and fields

- Governance policies on digital platforms

- Production and manipulation of data around pandemic

- Disinformation, misinformation and social/digital inequalities 

- Tensions between politics and public health

- Empirical studies on disinformation and misinformation on digital platforms

- Culture of hate and misinformation

- Celebrities, influencers and digital activists in the circulation of disinformation and misinformation

- Fear, panic and anxiety in the circulation of narratives about Covid-19

- Role of bots, deepfakes and AI in circulation of disinformation and misinformation

TIMELINE

November 30, 2020   Closing date for submission of  500-word abstract - revistafronteiras@gmail.com

December 15, 2020 Invitations to submit full-length papers 

February 15, 2021 Deadline for submitting full-length papers 

April 30, 2021 Publication of special issue