New social phenomena create new research needs. Through ongoing collaboration across the network, INCT.DD researchers are examining data, information, and references about COVID-19 to understand how a health crisis affects different aspects of politics and democracy.
The studies listed below are ongoing and use a wide range of approaches. Take a look:
> > Transparency and security of public data
Transparency of epidemiological, financial, and budget information about the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazilian state governments
What is the aim of the study?
This ongoing study primarily aims to assess the transparency of epidemiological, financial, and budget information about the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazilian state governments. In every Brazilian state and the Federal District, researchers examined official government portals, transparency portals, data portals, health department portals, and special COVID-19 portals to collect epidemiological, financial, and budget information. Data were collected from June 2 to 19, 2020. The methodological instrument has two dimensions, assessing transparency of epidemiological cases and of financial and budget information, respectively. The study asks: Are the published data and information transparent? What is the level of transparency? Is it sufficient to inform citizens about the spread of COVID-19 or how public money allocated to the pandemic is spent? Does it provide enough evidence for state managers to make pandemic-related decisions and guide and improve public policies?
Researchers involved: Maria Paula Almada (UFBA), Paula Karini Amorim (IFTO), Nina Santos (UFBA), Camilo Aggio (UFMG), and Maria Dominguez (UFBA).
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COVID-19 apps and citizen data security
What is the aim of the study?
The study analyzes how well COVID-19 monitoring apps in Brazil respect user privacy. Through reverse engineering and static analysis of Android executables, and through scraping and analysis of privacy policies and information on the apps’ Google store pages, it examines the many ways user privacy can be attacked. It also assesses compliance with legal instruments such as the LGPD and the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet.
Researchers involved:
João Guilherme Santos (UFBA) and Alexandre Teles (UFBA)
> > Social media and information circulation
Information sources as mediators: who supplies pro- and anti-Bolsonaro networks during the coronavirus pandemic
What is the aim of the study? The study aims to identify the information sources used by people who support or criticize Jair Bolsonaro’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Treating information sources as media mediators, it proposes a categorization of websites that appear in corpora from social media and instant messaging apps. Alongside identifying and categorizing these sources, comparison of corpora from different political positions will help explain differences in the composition of the media ecosystem and their political effects.
Researcher involved: Nina Santos (UFBA)
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Contaminated Science: analyzing the spread of coronavirus disinformation through YouTube
What is the aim of the study? Contaminated Science is the first in a series of studies and examines the use of YouTube to spread disinformation (“fake news”) online. Using network analysis and quantitative and qualitative methods, the project monitors and maps successive waves of potential disinformation about COVID-19. It uses computational methods such as network analysis and natural language processing, alongside quantitative approaches. The study examines repeated attacks on institutions that produce public-interest information, including the Ministry of Health, state and municipal health departments, and international bodies such as the UN and WHO. These data allow the project to identify the main environments and flows of false information.
Researchers involved: João Guilherme Santos (UFBA) and Nina Santos (UFBA)
Learn more: The first research report has been published and highlights the COVID-19 disinformation network on YouTube.
Coronavirus Observatory: world leaders’ communication through Twitter
What is the aim of the study? This study is part of an effort to understand how world leaders communicated over six months of COVID-19 spread, from January to June 2020. Twitter was selected because it allows fast communication, is widely used by political actors, and has strong potential for messages to spread both within the platform and through traditional media. The sample of leaders covers diverse political systems and world regions: 1. Boris Johnson (United Kingdom); 2. Justin Trudeau (Canada); 3. Sebastián Piñera (Chile); 4. Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa); 5. Pedro Sanchez (Spain); 6. Narendra Modi (India); 7. Andrés Manuel Obrador (Mexico); 8. Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela); 9. Alberto Fernandez (Argentina); 10. Emmanuel Macron (France); 11. Donald Trump (USA); 12. Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil); 13. Katrín Jakobsdóttir (Iceland); 14. Giuseppe Conte (Italy).
Researchers involved: Pedro Mesquita (UFBA) and Rodrigo Daniel Silva (UFBA)
Clashes and silences: legislative party leaders on Twitter during COVID-19
What is the aim of the study?
The stability of Brazilian presidentialism depends largely on building a strong legislative base in the National Congress. The executive must be well aligned with party leaders, who have considerable power to set the legislative agenda. However, the Bolsonaro government currently has the smallest support base since Collor. It is fragmented and of uncertain loyalty, reflecting anti-institutional rhetoric and a refusal to negotiate with legislative leaders. The internet has become a central site of political debate, giving rise to “Twittocracy,” in which political actors use the platform to publicize their positions. This study analyzed the discourse of 28 leaders in the Chamber of Deputies during April 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified debates between the opposition and the majority that month, consolidating the breakdown of the governing coalition and the isolation of the federal executive.
Researchers involved:
Helga Almeida (UNIVASF) and Larissa Peixoto (UFMG)
#FechadocomBolsonaro: a study of support for the president among his allies in Bahia during the pandemic
What is the aim of the study? The study examines whether President Jair Bolsonaro’s narratives during the coronavirus pandemic gained support from his allies in Bahia. It analyzes tweets by four Bolsonaro supporters holding legislative office in the state, from March 25 to May 25. During this period, the president opposed social distancing, although the World Health Organization (WHO) supported it as a measure to prevent the disease from spreading. He also supported chloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, despite the absence of scientific proof of its effectiveness. He entered political conflict with former Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro and institutions such as the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The corpus comprises 496 messages collected directly from the Twitter accounts of Bahia state representatives Talita Oliveira and Capitão Alden, both of the PSL, and Salvador city councilors Cezar Leite (PRTB) and Alexandre Aleluia (DEM).
Researchers involved: Rodrigo Daniel Silva (UFBA) and Thiago Freire (UFBA)
> > Digital democracy and innovation during the pandemic
Digital democratic innovations for the collaborative production of public action tools during the pandemic
What is the aim of the study?
The study aims to understand how digital democratic innovations help solve public problems in Brazil during the pandemic.
Researchers involved:
Christiana Freitas, Luciana Capiberibe, Luisa Montenegro, Carlos Torres, Giovana Lima, Grazielly Lima, Barbara Trindade, Beatriz Lima, Tiago Coutinho, Maria Eduarda Nunes, Beatriz Santana, Breno Santos, Cecília Cipriano, Orestes Araújo, Alexandre Conceição, Adi Spezia, Magno Gomes, Heitor Lomeu, Giovanna Lemos
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Digital communication technologies and the coronavirus pandemic: issues of digital democracy, electronic government, and public deliberation
What is the aim of the study? The study investigates digital applications used by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It will identify and analyze digital initiatives developed in response to the pandemic’s effects on public health, social welfare, and the economy. The study is guided by four research questions: 1) Which digital communication technologies have governments used to respond to the coronavirus? 2) Do these initiatives strengthen democratic values, relationships, or processes? 3) Do they make government services easier to access? 4) How has public deliberation developed around governments’ digital responses to the pandemic? The study will proceed in five phases: i) a general survey of federal executive and legislative initiatives; ii) a survey of state executive and legislative initiatives; iii) a survey of municipal executive initiatives; iv) examination of the most common types of initiative and the most relevant cases; v) analysis of public discussion of government digital initiatives and of how society is, in some cases, helping develop digital responses to problems caused by the pandemic.
Researchers involved: Samuel Barros (UFRB), Carla Rodrigues (UFBA), Thiago Freire (UFBA), Gabriella da Costa (UFBA), Juliana Marinho (UFBA), Eurico Matos (FGV-DAPP/INCT.DD), Tatiana Aneas (UFS), and Ébida Santos (UnB)
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