Covid hearings to scrutinize pandemic disinformation spreaders

Members of the Covid hearings committee. Photo: Jefferson Rudy/SF/CC-BY 4.0

Websites and social media accounts supportive of President Jair Bolsonaro that spread false information related to the Covid-19 pandemic will have their telematics data scrutinized by the Senate hearings committee investigating the government’s pandemic response.

The vote on the matter was in keeping with the trend established since the committee kicked off: four pro-government senators opposed the move while seven independents voted in its favor. Chairman Omar Aziz says the data could help map who is paying to spread disinformation online. “They promoted unproven treatments, the herd immunity theory, and contributed to thousands of deaths,” he argued.

Janaína Camelo

Janaína Camelo has been a political reporter for ten years, working for multiple media outlets. More recently, she worked for the presidency's press service and is now specializing in data journalism.