Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Department of Public Policy Analysis (FGV DAPP), with the support of Germany’s Foreign Ministry and the German Embassy in Brazil, is launching a project called Digitalization and Democracy in Brazil. The purpose of the two-year initiative is to develop strategies to tackle and understand new and imminent challenges for Brazil’s democracy in digital environments, encompassing issues such as disinformation, efforts to fight hate speech and new internet regulations.

The project, which will run until 2022, will use FGV DAPP’s experience in social network research and expertise in public policy analysis. It will focus on strengthening democratic values and developing mechanisms and knowledge needed to promote consistent and fruitful digital public debate.

The initiative’s first study, “Online Disinformation and Elections in Brazil,” was launched on November 12, in cooperation with the Superior Electoral Court, in order to enhance public debate about subjects related to disinformation in electoral processes. Over the next few months, FGV DAPP will produce a continuous stream of new documents, studies, workshops and other events about the impact of disinformation on domestic politics, addressing different parts of the digital ecosystem and online political debate in Brazil.

Photo: TSE