Análise de mensagens sobre questões climáticas no Telegram durante as eleições presidenciais brasileiras de 2022

Abstract

Given the growth of misinformation and climate denial on digital platforms, it is essential to understand how these discourses circulate on social media platforms that are difficult to audit, such as Telegram. During the 2022 election year, Brazil experienced an intense scenario of political polarization in which environmental issues centered disputes between Lula and Jair Bolsonaro, the most prominent presidential candidates. In this context, the research problem arises: how did Brazilian far-right groups and channels on Telegram address climate issues throughout this period? The objective of the study is to map text messages related to climate issues and identify patterns, climate denial, conspiracy theories, and possible connections with other topics. The method includes computational analysis using topic modeling through the Structural Topic Model (STM), followed by an exploratory qualitative analysis. By examining the content of these spaces, it was possible to observe that climate denialism and conspiracy theories are spreading in spaces dominated by the far right and present intersections with support for Bolsonaro and attacks against the left. Based on this, the research reflects on the structures of climate denialism today and the role of digital platforms in this scenario.