EPISTEMOLOGY OF DISINFORMATION IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCE

Abstract

In light of the significant rise in misinformation over the past few decades, particularly in digital media, and the public’s growing distrust regarding the accuracy of disseminated information, this study seeks to understand what the fields of Information and Communication Science have contributed to the epistemology of misinformation. The study is characterized as an exploratory-descriptive study with a qualitative approach. To conduct the analysis, a literature review was performed to understand various aspects of disinformation, such as its concept, its forms of manifestation, and its consequences for society. The chosen method of analysis was discursive text analysis, which was applied to the abstracts of 37 studies retrieved from the Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations and the Theses and Dissertations Catalog of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. As a result, it was possible to observe the prominence of the theme of information literacy in combating disinformation, as well as the presence of this phenomenon in digital environments. Finally, it is concluded that the fields of communication and information address very similar themes but with different research focuses.