Politicization of lies about the indigenous peoples in Brazil: frequency and thematic of information in Lupa digital fact-checking agency

The insertion and daily use of social media, from the 2010s onward, provided a wide circulation of content. This information is sometimes false and affects vulnerable groups, such as indigenous peoples. To understand this fake and false information about Brazilian indigenous peoples, we evaluate the fake news checked by the Lupa agency since its creation. From 2018 to 2023, there were 36 items focusing on the indigenous peoples, including only three without the “False” label, but still contributing to information disorder. Although speech by far-right politicians and supporters has brought lies about the indigenous peoples to the attention of Lupa, this movement by the agency is strengthened by the current government, since it created the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and increased attention around this population. The politicization was observed indirectly in two lies and directly in 28 fake news items, with 24 benefiting the far-right and four the left part of the political spectrum.