Disinformation, denialism and revisionism

manipulation or review of historical facts?

Abstract

Technological advances and the internet have allowed greater production, democratization of access and sharing of information in recent decades. At the same time, this same technology has been used to promote disinformation in all areas of human activity, especially in the scientific field. Some movements deny or reinterpret some historical facts with the intention of altering or casting doubt on scientifically proven knowledge, propagating false or manipulated information. The objective of this article is to understand the performance, characteristics and differences of denialism and historical revisionism and their effects on society. It contextualizes the action of the scientific denialist movement throughout history with the phenomenon of disinformation today, expanding discussions on the phenomena in order to offer a more grounded theoretical framework on these historical trends that are still little explored in Information Science. The methodological path started from reviews and bibliographical analyzes of reference works on the themes. It compares the general aspects of denialist and revisionist processes and highlights the relevance of historiographical revisionism for the development of society’s historical knowledge. It also highlights the role of CI in mitigating the problems generated by misinformation, presenting studies related to scientific dissemination and the appropriation of information by users.