Lisbon, May 13, 2025 (Lusa) - University professors and researchers in political science and disinformation in Portugal, interviewed by the Lusa news agency, consider that the right wing populist Chega Party takes a different stance on disinformation than the other political parties.
The vice-rector of the Portuguese Catholic University, Nelson Ribeiro, considers that "Chega has perhaps been the party that has stood out very much" in terms of presenting a version of information that tends to favour the party's perspective.
Nelson Ribeiro says that Chega is a party that, "over time, has shared false content, that is, content with messages that are based not on true facts, but on facts that are created, for example polls that were later realised not to exist or that were made by companies that were not accredited in Portugal in order to be able to say that they were in fact legitimate polls".
For João Pedro Batista, a lecturer at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, "the traditional parties (...) for example, the PS, CDS, PSD, etc. end up doing a lot of propaganda, not so much using disinformation or "fake news"', which he calls "self-advertising" and above all "relaying what happens on television".
With regard to the new parties, João Pedro Batista emphasises the case of Chega, saying that the party "presented an online poll, with the participation of social networks, which gave Chega as the winner of the elections", and that this poll is unfounded because it is "based on participation in social networks".
What the professor is talking about is a phenomenon of counterfeit news, which looks like credible news but contains false information, not least because "society itself is more inclined to accept lies as something normal in political activity".
In this sense, the professor characterises Chega as a party "in the world of post-truth, that is, one that doesn't care about the real truth", because it resorts to lies, misleading and decontextualised content more often "because this type of strategy is already normalised and more acceptable nowadays".
Susana Salgado, a researcher in political communication at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon, points out that "Chega has its own news organisation and is very proficient in using social networks, so it has the resources to shape the issues in the way that best serves its interests".
Following the same line of thought, the researcher also points out that if you take into account that "disinformation also includes hiding relevant information to avoid losing electoral support, then disinformation is common to all parties and candidates".
The legislative elections take place next Sunday, 18 May, and 21 political forces are running: AD (PSD/CDS-PP), PS, Chega, IL, BE, CDU (PCP/PEV), Livre, PAN, ADN, RIR, JPP, PCTP/MRPP, Nova Direita, Volt Portugal, Ergue-te, Nós, Cidadãos!, PPM, PLS and, with lists in only one or both autonomous regions, MPT, PTP and PSD/CDS/PPM.
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