Brazil study finds 60% of fact‑checked political statements distorted

A new study released by the Observatório Lupa analyses 632 pieces of content published by Agência Lupa between 2016 and 2024, covering five election cycles. Of the 397 fact‑checked political statements, only 34% were judged completely true and roughly six in ten contained some degree of distortion or falsehood.

The research examined 237 political actors from 37 parties, identifying that former president Jair Bolsonaro had the highest false‑statement rate – 102 of his 236 verified remarks (43.2%) were classified as false. Former Rio de Janeiro governor Wilson Witzel and former mayor Marcelo Crivella also showed high false rates at 38.9% and 36.2% respectively. Linguistic analysis showed Bolsonaro often misused numbers and statistics, while false statements attributed to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were frequently linked to policy origins.

The study also looked at 286 viral, author‑less pieces circulating on social media; 90.9% of these election‑related rumors were false, with 81.5% labeled false in 2024. Most of the misinformation attacked the electoral system or aimed to damage candidate reputations.