“Vendepatria” and “Anti Vaccine”: Opinocracy and disinformation on WhatsApp in the 2023 constitutional process in Chile

Abstract

This study examines the circulation of political information and disinformation in 214 public WhatsApp groups during the 2023 electoral campaign for the election of the constitutional council in Chile. Computational and content analysis methods were applied to quantify the proportion of different types of political information that circulated in the groups: creative, disinformation, uncivil, information, mobilization and opinion. A significant asymmetry in activity was identified between progressive and conservative groups, with the latter presenting habits more related to information disorders. The findings thus suggest a strong tendency for users with values aligned with the political right to spread conspiracy theories and false facts, mixing politics and health; national with international. Progressive groups, in comparison, show a more informative activity while conservatives display a tendency to privilege opinion content. It highlights the importance of investigating closed digital environments and disinformation in contexts that make verification and public scrutiny difficult.