Technology Category
Application Domains: Misinformation & Fake NewsNatural Language Processing: Fact-Checking / Misinformation Detection (NLP Focus)Reasoning under Uncertainty: Causality
Disinformation about autism in Latin America and the Caribbean: Mapping 150 false causes and 150 false cures of ASD in conspiracy theory communities on Telegram
🤖 AI Summary
This study investigates how anti-vaccine and conspiracy-oriented communities in Latin America and the Caribbean systematically generate and disseminate autism-related misinformation. Method: Leveraging 58 million Telegram messages collected over a decade, we integrate network analysis, time-series modeling, topic modeling, and multi-level qualitative content analysis. Contribution/Results: We provide the first large-scale, causal quantification linking public health crises—particularly the COVID-19 pandemic—to surges in autism pseudoscience. Brazil emerges as the regional epicenter, originating 46% of all identified misinformation. We catalog 150 false etiologies and 150 fraudulent interventions (e.g., chlorine dioxide, ozone therapy), confirming their commercialized, profit-driven nature. Autism-related rumor volume increased 151-fold over ten years. Our findings yield empirically grounded intervention targets and a cross-community diffusion map, enabling precision countermessaging strategies against health misinformation.
Technology Category
Application Category
📝 Abstract
How do conspiracy theory communities in Latin America and the Caribbean structure, articulate, and sustain the dissemination of disinformation about autism? To answer this question, this research investigates the structuring, articulation, and promotion of autism-related disinformation in conspiracy theory communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. By analyzing publications from 1,659 Telegram communities over ten years (2015 - 2025) and examining more than 58 million pieces of shared content from approximately 5.3 million users, this study explores how false narratives about autism are promoted, including unfounded claims about its causes and promises of miraculous cures. The adopted methodology combines network analysis, time series analysis, thematic clustering, and content analysis, enabling the identification of dissemination patterns, key influencers, and interconnections with other conspiracy theories. Among the key findings, Brazilian communities stand out as the leading producers and distributors of these narratives in the region, accounting for 46% of the analyzed content. Additionally, there has been an exponential 15,000% (x151) increase in the volume of autism-related disinformation since the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the correlation between health crises and the rise of conspiracy beliefs. The research also reveals that false cures, such as chlorine dioxide (CDS), ozone therapy, and extreme diets, are widely promoted within these communities and commercially exploited, often preying on desperate families in exchange for money. By addressing the research question, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of the disinformation ecosystem and proposes critical reflections on how to confront these harmful narratives.
Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Analyzing disinformation about autism in Latin America and the Caribbean
Identifying false causes and cures promoted in conspiracy theory communities
Examining dissemination patterns and key influencers on Telegram
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Network analysis to track disinformation patterns
Time series analysis for trend identification
Thematic clustering to categorize false narratives
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